Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon
by Rukuya
Summary: Assigned a mission by Yamamoto, Byakuya & Rukia head out on a journey that will reveal new danger, hardship, and hidden feelings.
1. Chapter 1

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter One~

Rukia walked through the halls of the Sixth Division, Ukitake had requested her to deliver some paperwork that needed to be signed by the Sixth Division taicho, Byakuya Kuchiki. Rukia was still unsure why Ukitake had wanted her specifically to deliver the papers to Byakuya, but she wasn't going to argue.

_'I guess he asked me because I wasn't busy at the time.'_ Rukia thought to herself. _'Hmm, I wonder what Nii-sama does all day anyway...probably just sits at his desk doing his paperwor-' _

"Ow!" She exclaimed, feeling herself bump into someone and almost fall over before catching herself. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize anyone approaching her. Rukia caught the papers she had been carrying in her hands before they hit the floor, only dropping one. She bent over to pick it up off of the ground, but before she could the familiar hand of the person that she had ran into took it before she had gotten to it. Rukia immediately looked up to see the man that she had been thinking about only moments before, Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Oh, Nii-sama! I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention." Rukia said, apologizing for bumping into him.

Byakuya held the paper out to her, "What are you doing here, Rukia?" He asked in his usual monotone as Rukia took the paper from him.

"Oh," Rukia said, straightening the papers up neatly, "Ukitake-taicho needed you to sign these."

Byakuya looked down at the papers in her hand before turning around, "Alright, follow me back to my office." He instructed.

Once they were in his office Byakuya took the papers from Rukia before sitting down at his desk. He then immediately proceeded to look through them and sign whatever needed to be signed, after that he straightened them up again and handed them to Rukia.

"Thank you, Nii-" Rukia said, but was interrupted when a Hell Butterfly flew into the office.

Byakuya let the butterfly land on his finger to deliver the message it carried. A short moment passed before the Hell Butterfly left Byakuya's finger and flew away.

When the Hell Butterfly had gone, Byakuya looked down at Rukia, "We're needed by Yamamoto Sou-Taicho." He said.

"The Sou-Taicho?" Rukia repeated in question.

Byakuya nodded, "We need to get going now, Ukitake-taicho will understand."

"Alright." Rukia said before taking the papers Byakuya had signed.

"Leave those here, you can come back for them later." Byakuya told her.

"Okay, Nii-sama." Rukia said before placing the papers back on his desk and following him out of the door.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**Well, there's chapter one of my newest story. Sorry it's so short, I'm never good at making first chapters very lengthy. I wanted to get this chapter posted today in honor of Byakuya's birthday!**

**What better way to celebrate it other than releasing a brand new Byakuya x Rukia fanfiction!**

**I'll have the next chapter out soon~**

**I already have up to chapter eight of this fanfic written.**

**Though just to let you all know. This story won't be regularly updated until I've completed my other story Baby Daddy. That fic was just on hiatus for far too long so I really hate leaving it un-updated for too long. I'm almost done with it though, should only be about four more chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Two~

"This mission is of extreme importance and will be dangerous, but I'm sure the two of you can handle it. There have been many sightings of hollows and Menos Grandes located out near the mountains just outside of the Inuzuri District. There have been casualties of some Rukongai residents and only a few that witnessed the sightings had survived. We believe that there is a much stronger force out there causing the hollows to gather. We want the two of you to find out what it is and exterminate it. The mission should take eight days to complete." Yamamoto explained to Byakuya and Rukia, who were standing across from him as he sat at his desk. "You will need to leave early tomorrow morning so I would suggest you both go home to get rested and packed for the mission after this meeting."

Rukia's eyes had widened slightly as Yamamoto explained what they were meant to do. Eight days alone with Byakuya, possibly even longer. She wondered if she'd be able to manage something like that. She never really talked to him much recently because they had been busy with work and the fact that he was more of the silent, non-talkative type. _'He'll probably just work on completing the mission as fast as he possibly can...'_ She thought silently to herself.

–

Rukia looked up at the setting sun as she and Byakuya walked home. Byakuya had gone with her to the Thirteenth Division so she could return the paperwork to Ukitake. Rukia walked beside him as they made there way home. Byakuya hadn't said a thing since earlier that day when he had told Yamamoto that they would be prepared for the mission and that they would leave at daybreak.

_'I wonder what Nii-sama thinks about this mission..'_ Rukia wondered. _'Probably nothing much...He'll just fight most of the hollows while watching over me...Ugh, this is my chance! I'm going to show Nii-sama that I'm strong and that I don't always need protecting.' _Rukia was determined to prove herself to Byakuya and show him that he was strong enough.

'How dangerous will this mission turn out to be...' Byakuya asked himself silently. _'Since it's a mission coming directly from Yamamoto-Soutaicho it's probably going to be extremely dangerous...'_ Byakuya didn't like the sound of it. His main priority was Rukia's safety and he wasn't going to let her get hurt. He would take care of any Menos that came along, he told himself that he would deal with them as quickly as possible. He knew Rukia was strong, he just didn't want her at any serious risks.

–

Once the two of them had reached the Kuchiki Mansion they went straight to their rooms until it was time for dinner. Rukia lied on her bed staring up at the ceiling. She had already showered and gotten packed, now she was just waiting for dinner time so she could eat and go to bed quicker...or maybe even take a walk in the gardens.

"Hopefully the mission will have a good start." Rukia said to herself. "Wonder what's going to happen...Guess we'll find out tomorrow."

Rukia then sat up and got out of bed, on her way to the dining hall for dinner.

–

Byakuya and Rukia sat across from each other at the dining table, waiting on the servants to bring out the food so they could begin eating and then head off to bed. The food was brought out moments later and the two of them began eating. As they ate in silence, Rukia took a quick glance at Byakuya, but quickly shifted her gaze back to her food when she saw him looking back at her.

"After dinner I need to speak with you, Rukia. We'll take a talk in the gardens." Byakuya said, catching Rukia's attention.

"Alright, Nii-sama." Rukia responded after giving a small nod to let him know she understood.

Soon after they finished eating and Byakuya stood and made his way outside with Rukia following behind him.

–

Rukia could guess what he wanted to talk to her about, _'Probably the mission...'_ she thought.

She followed him to a stone bench that could seat two people and it was positioned in front of a small pond. They sat down before Byakuya began speaking.

"Are you packed and ready for tomorrow?" He asked in his usual tone that was void of any emotion.

Rukia nodded, "I am."

"I'll wake you tomorrow morning since you would usually still be sleeping."

Rukia looked up at him to see that he was staring out at the pond that seemed to glisten in the moonlight. She guessed that he would just knock on her door a few times so there would be nothing to worry about.

"You should get some rest, Rukia." Byakuya said after a few moments of silence had passed between them.

Rukia looked over to him before nodding nervously, "Alright." She replied before standing up to start making her way towards her room. It was then that she noticed that Byakuya had stood too and was now walking beside her again. She looked up at him questioningly.

"Since our rooms are near one another I'll wall walk you to yours on my way back to my own." He explained.

"Oh." She responded before turning her head to look in front of her again so Byakuya wouldn't see the slight almost unnoticeable blush that was appearing on her face.

–

The rest of the walk was in silence, but when Rukia was inside of her room she suddenly poked her head out of the door to see Byakuya making his way down the hallway to his room.

"Goodnight, Nii-sama." She called, causing Byakuya to stop and turn towards her.

"Goodnight, Rukia..." He replied after giving her a single nod. He was surprised to see a smile on her face as a response, even if he didn't show his surprise on his face.

Rukia then closed the door to her room before Byakuya started to make his way back to his own once again.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**I really wanted to get this out so here's chapter two! Hopefully it doesn't suck too bad. Sorry this one is so short as well, I'm thinking of letting the next update for this story be on Valentines Day. Idk, I just thought it would be nice to have it out then~ **

**Please, Read & Review!**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!**


	3. Chapter 3

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Three~

"Rukia, it's time to get up. We need to eat break fast and then head out. I'll be in the dining room and after we eat we'll leave." Byakuya's voice said from the other side of the door of Rukia's room after knocking.

Slowly, Rukia sat up. She wiped her eyes and stretched her arms out. _'I wish I could just get a few more minutes...' _She thought groggily before getting out of bed and slowly making her way to the bathroom to freshen up.

Once in the bathroom she quickly began freshening up and once she was clean and dressed she walked back inside her room, grabbed her small bag of some things she had packed for the trip and made her way to the dining room where Byakuya was awaiting her.

–

Byakuya sat quietly at the table, his small bag at his feet, as he waited on Rukia so they

could eat their early breakfast and be on their way. It was nearing six in the morning, so he expected Rukia would take a little longer to get ready since she wasn't used to waking up this early.

When Rukia reached the dining room she was surprised to see that Byakuya had waited on her before he had had the servants bring out their food. She took a seat at the table, across from him, and then the servants brought out their breakfast.

Rukia wished to have at least some sort of conversation with Byakuya as they ate, because she really wasn't too pleased with how most of their meals went by with silence. _'Damn, I want to have a talk with Nii-sama, but I can't think of anything to talk about...' _As they ate Rukia kept her mind running through some topics that might help start a conversation,_ 'Maybe I should ask how his day was yesterday...No, that's stupid. The mission? No, there's nothing really to discuss there either...Oh, I got it!' _Rukia looked up at Byakuya and was about to say something, but she quickly forgot her previous thoughts and shifted her gaze back down at her plate when she saw Byakuya glancing at her. She saw him shift his gaze to the side when their eyes met, as if he didn't want to be caught.

_'Why is that whenever I look at Nii-sama I always seem to catch him staring at me...'_ Rukia wondered to herself. She thought about asking him, but before she was able to muster up the courage Byakuya stood.

"We should get going." Byakuya stated before leaning down to pick his bag up off the floor.

Rukia nodded before standing up herself and taking her own bag from the floor and placing the strap over her shoulder. Byakuya gave Rukia a nod before walking past her and a few moments later Rukia followed after him.

–

Byakuya and Rukia silently made their way through the streets of the Inuzuri District. Rukia kept her gaze down, not wanting to look at anything that might remind her of her troubled childhood past. She hated being here, it just brought back too many bad memories of her childhood that most people probably wouldn't even consider a real childhood in the first place.

Byakuya was bothered by being in Inuzuri as well. One reason was because he could clearly tell it was bothering Rukia. His second reason was because he couldn't help his eyes shift to the scenes around him. Most of the residents hid from Rukia and him, some cowered, but Byakuya knew that they were all in poor condition that he couldn't possibly imagine living in. He could hardly believe Rukia had managed to survive out here when she was a child. He couldn't help but feel saddened for both Hisana and Rukia, surprisingly though, he felt even worse for Rukia. Hisana may have been sickly, but she had at least been old enough to take care of herself. Rukia had only been a mere baby. It made him wonder who had taken care of her after Hisana had left her. She couldn't of possibly survived if she had just been left and uncared for as a baby, it was just impossible.

Byakuya wanted to get out of here and needed to get out now,_ 'Rukia probably feels the same...'_ He thought silently to himself as he looked behind him a Rukia, who had been keeping her gaze to the ground as soon as they entered Inuzuri. It was then that Byakuya did something he would normally never do. He suddenly reached down and took Rukia's hand securely in his own, making her gasp in surprise and suddenly look up at him. Before Rukia had a chance to say anything about Byakuya's sudden actions he used shun po to quickly get them out of Inuzuri.

–

When Rukia was able to take in her surroundings again she realized Byakuya had brought them to the edge of the forest they were meant to enter in order to get to the mountains where their mission had been assigned. Though they were still a great distance away from their assigned location, it would take a day or two to get there at the least.

Rukia looked up at Byakuya in surprise though, she still hadn't expected him to just grab her like that and shun po here, even though she was happy he did. She then became aware of his tight and secure grip on her hand, she could tell Byakuya wasn't aware of it though.

Byakuya waited a moment before he started walking again, still unaware he was still gripping Rukia's hand. Rukia wasn't sure why, but she liked the feel of their hand intertwined together, they just seemed to fit perfectly; so she started walking as soon as he did so he wouldn't notice and let go of her. _'This actually...feels...nice...'_ Rukia thought, resisting the urge of letting a small smile slip.

Byakuya finally took notice of he and Rukia's hands about two minutes later. He didn't show he took notice though, _'Why didn't she say anything...but instead gripping my hand back?'_ He asked himself. Byakuya soon just shook those thoughts off though and kept walking.

–

They found the spot where they would set up camp for the night when the sun started setting. They wouldn't be able to get too much of anything done if they went on. Byakuya had made a small pile of wood and started a fire once it was dark enough. Rukia sat across from him on the ground. She frequently, but secretly glanced at Byakuya, who wasn't doing much, just fixing their campsite to look a little neater; moving any limbs that had fallen from trees and making sure their fire was good.

Soon after Byakuya took out the blanket he had brought with him out of his bag to place it on top of his bag so he could just grab it when he needed it. Rukia opened her own bag, that was lying beside her, and did the same with her own blanket that she had brought along.

Rukia looked over to Byakuya to see him staring up at the night sky, viewing the stars. After a moment he looked over to Rukia to see her staring at the fire blankly. He became curious to what she was thinking about, but ignored the thought since they never really shared anything personal with each other.

"How much of the mission should we get done tomorrow?" Rukia asked as she continued to stare at the fire.

Byakuya waited a short moment before replying, "I don't expect us to get much completed since this mission is supposed to take us over a week. It may even take longer than that."

Rukia didn't respond, instead deciding to continue staring at the fire. Byakuya watched her for a few more minutes in silence before he took a quick glance up at the sky again, "I would suggest we get some sleep so we'll be able to wake up early tomorrow and move on." He suggested, looking back at Rukia.

Rukia looked at him and gave a slow nod before scooting back, away from the fire and grabbing her blanket to drape it over and around her. She glanced back at Byakuya before lying down on the ground and making herself comfortable.

"Goodnight, Nii-sama." Rukia said once she was comfortable.

"Goodnight." Byakuya replied after giving a small nod.

Rukia shut her eyes and unknowingly to Byakuya, had the blanket covering her mouth where she was hiding a soft smile.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**There's chapter three~ **

**I'm happy I got this out today, and hopefully you're all happy that this one is a little longer. Sorry nothing too exciting happened in this one either but I PROMISE you the next one will have something and will be longer. I just got started writing out chapter ten of this story and I'm happy with how it's turning out.**

**Thank you guys for all the reviews too! I was so happy when I was close to having twenty reviews when I only had two chapters out. It made me want to get this chapter out earlier even though I had a planned day for this one's release.  
**

**I really actually hope to see if I can reach 30 reviews with this chapter. That would really really make me happy. I love writing this fic and hope people are enjoying it even though not much has happened. The first two chapters were sort of a buildup. I promise this will get more interesting. **

**Read and Review!**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!**


	4. Chapter 4

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Four~

_'What's that smell? It smells as if someone is....cooking?'_ Byakuya thought as he began to wake up. Once he was sitting up and his eyes adjusted he saw Rukia, cooking what seemed to be a fish she had put on a stick. She had also obviously started a new fire as well.

"Rukia, what are doing?" He asked when Rukia seemed to be done with the cooking.

She looked over to him, "I found a pond that had a lot of fish swimming around in it. So I caught a couple of them to cook so we could eat . It didn't take long to clean them out or anything. I used to do this a lot back when I was growing up in Inuzuri."

It was then that Byakuya noticed something about Rukia after she had approached him to hand him his fish. It looked down at his food before looking back to Rukia.

"Did you even go to sleep last night?" Byakuya asked her.

Rukia looked up at him in surprise after taking a bite out of her own fish. She then frowned and looked down with a saddened expression.

"No," She admitted, "I couldn't because I couldn't stop thinking about Inuzuri..."

Byakuya was slightly surprised. Not by what she had been thinking about, but that she had actually told him what had been bothering her. He didn't notice his eyes had unconsciously widened slightly, showing his surprise. Rukia noticed this, but didn't say anything. She just turned her gaze back to her fish again.

"Um, So do you like the fish? I haven't cooked anything for a long time, but I tried my best..." She asked him nervously.

Byakuya had been taking another bite when Rukia had asked him so once he swallowed his bite he looked across from him to where she was sitting.

"I do." He answered honestly. It was different from what he was used to, but he liked it. He didn't know why at first but he then secretly guessed it was because Rukia had been the one to cook it.

Rukia looked at Byakuya with widened eyes, "You really mean it?" She asked, smiling happily.

Byakuya nodded in reply, "I do."

His answer made Rukia's smile grow, which made him feel good and happy on the inside and just knowing that he was the one that had made her smile just made those feelings feel even better.

"What's the plan for today?" Rukia asked once they were done eating.

"We will take out the first batch of hollows and work from there." He answered as he packed his bag, neatly folding his blanket up and slipping it in before slinging his bag over his shoulder and standing up. "We should get going."

"Okay." Rukia said after she had put away her things in her bag and slung it over her shoulder and got up, but she had stood to quickly and slipped on her feet. She started falling backwards but before she hit the ground Byakuya grabbed her hand gently to keep her from falling, causing her to blush at the sudden contact of their hands.

Byakuya pulled Rukia to her feet carefully, he didn't let go of her until he was sure she wouldn't fall again.

_'Why is she blushing...?'_ He wondered to himself once he noticed the blush that was evident on Rukia's face.

–

Byakuya and Rukia made their way through the forest, both sensing and keeping a look out for any hollows they were meant to slay. Rukia walked beside Byakuya, frequently sneaking glances at him through her hair. She never caught him looking at her though, but for some reason she felt he had been at least a few times.

"Prepare yourself, there are hollows approaching." Byakuya warned a moment later. Rukia nodded and drew her sword as Byakuya drew his right before four hollows emerged from the trees.

The hollows immediately went after Rukia but Byakuya quickly intervened and used shun po to get in front of her and defend her. Two of the hollows were foolish enough to keep running toward them causing them to meet an early demise by Byakuya's blade. Rukia moved to attack the other two, moving swiftly to dodge one of the hollows attacks as it jumped at her. She quickly turned on her heel and cut the hollow that had attacked her down. Once she had killed that hollow, two more hollows come out of the trees. Rukia didn't realize this and wasn't aware of the hollows about to attack her from behind. She only realized it at the last second, but she was unable to find the time to attack. It was at that moment she felt something tackle her out of the way.

Rukia felt her back hit the ground and whatever tackled her fall on top of her. She looked to see that it was Byakuya, causing her face to turn red. Byakuya turned over so that he was sitting beside her.

"There was no time to attack so I had to move quickly to get you out of the way." Byakuya explained as he stood.

Rukia nodded to let him know she understood before Byakuya held out his hand to help her get up. Rukia took his hand and Byakuya quickly pulled her to her feet.

The hollows moved swiftly to attack again. Rukia took her stance to attack as Byakuya went to take out two of the three hollows with two fast strikes of his sword. Rukia moved to attack the last remaining hollow. It tried to get away but it wasn't fast enough and Rukia cut it down with a single blow to it's skull.

"Are you alright?" Byakuya asked once he knew that there were no more hollows around.

"I'm fine" Rukia answered, giving him a small nod. "Just a little dusty from all the dirt....Are you okay, Nii-sama?"

Byakuya nodded, "I'm alright."

He looked around, making sure that there weren't any more hollows approaching. When he felt that everything was okay he started walking again, "Let's go."

Rukia didn't say anything in reply, she simply quickened her pace to walk beside him. She looked over to him to see him wearing his normal emotionless expression. _'I wonder what he's thinking about...Probably nothing at all...just keeping himself alert for anymore hollows...' _Rukia thought silently to herself.

–

A few hours later they arrived at a small clearing, much like the last spot they had been in where they set up camp.

"We'll stop here for the night." Byakuya stated as he placed his bag on the ground and disappear with shun po, off to gather some firewood.

Rukia looked off in the direction Byakuya had went before she placed her stuff on the ground and began unpacking, placing her blanket on top of her bag so she could use it when it was time to sleep.

It only took a few minutes for Byakuya to return with the firewood and it only took him a short time for him to pile it up neatly. Byakuya started the fire once the sun started to set.

"Are we supposed to go to sleep early again like last night?" Rukia asked.

Byakuya gave a small nod in reply.

Rukia watched as Byakuya took out his blanket. She noticed how neat he always seemed to keep things. She had just simply stuffed her blanket in her bag earlier while Byakuya had taken the time to actually fold it up neatly before putting it away.

"We should get to sleep now." Byakuya stated after they had eaten their meal consisting of a few berries and apples.

"Yes, Nii-sama." Rukia agreed before moving over to where she had placed her bag, taking her blanket and wrapping it around herself before lying down and closing her eyes.

"Try to at least get _some_ sleep tonight, Rukia." Byakuya told her after she had shut her eyes.

"Yes, Nii-sama. Goodnight." Rukia replied

"Goodnight." Byakuya echoed back before going over to his own stuff and lie down, placing his blanket over him.

–

"_You damn brat, get the hell back here!" A man shouted as a young Rukia ran out of a small, broken down looking shack in Inuzuri, carrying a half a loaf of bread in her small arms._

_Rukia had not had anything to eat in almost two days, she didn't want to result to stealing but she had no choice if she wanted to survive. She didn't have any friends to help her find food, so she worked alone when it came to gathering the necessities. She looked behind her as she ran to see the old man chasing after her, picking up rocks as he ran and throwing them at her._

"_Ow." Rukia winced as she felt some of the hard rocks hit her back. _

"_Get back her damn it!" The man shouted angrily. _

_Rukia ,of course, kept running. She knew better, if she were to stop that man could kill her. She had seen it happen on a few occasions when some of the local kids robbed from the older residents. She didn't want to end up like them, she wanted to live. She winced as more rocks hit her back and one on the back of her head, she refused to go down though, she wasn't going to give up._

_Rukia turned a corner and kept running, but to her horror she had turned to a dead end. She looked around __frantically, unsure of what to do. She then noticed a few crates piled up on the ground and she used them to hide behind. _

"_Where are ya? Dirty thief..." _

_Rukia stayed as silent as she could, she even went as far as to hold her breath at some points. _

"_Come out from hiding! You wretched brat...thief..." _

_She cringed silently when she felt the man hit the crates with his feet, trying to scare her out. _

_After a few moments, when Rukia was pretty sure the man was gone, she began to emerge from her hiding spot._

"_Ah!" She yelped when she felt something grab a fistful of her hair and throw her against the hard wall. When she looked up she saw the man she had stolen from standing before her. She gasped and tried to run away but the man grabbed her by her hair again and yanked her back. Rukia winced to keep from crying out in pain before she tried to get away once more, which only got her a hard hit to her head as the man slammed her head into the wall._

"_This is what rotten thieves like you get when you steal from me." The man stated as he yanked her by the hair again before roughly throwing her to the ground. . He then proceeded to kick, making her no longer able to cover up her cries of pain._

–

Rukia awoke from her nightmare with a start. She quickly sat up but hit something that was now wrapped around her. Her breathing was quick and rough as she clutched onto whatever was around her.

When she calmed herself she realized that the things around her were arms. She then realized that the arms belonged to none other than Byakuya. She tried to pull back, but he kept her in place; holding her to him. She gave up trying to get away and hid her face in his chest, clutching onto his shihakusho tightly.

"What happened?" Byakuya asked after a moment of silence had passed. "I was trying to wake you, but you wouldn't wake up."

Rukia hesitantly replied; her answer muffled by his robes, "Can we please talk a-about it tomorrow?"

"Ruki-"

"Please..."

"Alright..." Byakuya said, knowing nothing would be said about it tonight.

Rukia expected Byakuya would just go back to his spot and go back to sleep but her eyes widened in surprise when she felt him lie her down before lying down next to her; taking both of their blankets and draping it over them before pulling Rukia to him, which only surprised her more.

"Nii-"

"Go to sleep Rukia, we'll talk in the morning." Byakuya interrupted.

Rukia nodded before she scooted herself closer to him. She clutched the front of his robes in her hands as she rested her head against his chest and shut her eyes, finally falling in a sleep without any nightmares or bad thoughts to bother her.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**There's chapter four. Told you it would be longer~**

**Hopefully you all enjoyed this one. I appreciate the reviews I'm getting, I really want this fic to turn out to be good and I wan people to enjoy it so I'm happy when I get reviews and see that people are enjoying it. **

**This story was in danger a few days ago. The notebook I was writing it in got lost at school and I was really freaking out. I even offered a twenty dollar reward. I had all the way to the middle of chapter eleven written and I knew I would of never remembered all the details of the chapters. I was determined to continue this story though even IF I never found my notebook, but it wouldn't of been as good.**

**So I'm really happy I found it. It's now back in my possession and I can continue writing. **

_**Also, if you enjoy the Senbonzakura x Sode no Shirayuki pairing and you enjoy lemons I made a "M" rated oneshot for them here. The story's title is Yurushi. So if you're interested check it out~**_

**Please, Read and Review!**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING**


	5. Chapter 5

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Five~

Byakuya was the first to awaken the next morning. He looked down to see Rukia in his arms, cuddled up against him; sleeping peacefully. He was glad to see that, but he was still curious about her nightmare and why it had scared her so badly. It bothered him to no end. Rukia snuggled up to him more in her sleep, causing Byakuya to tighten his embrace on her unconsciously.

Rukia began to wake up about fifteen minutes later. She smiled when she awoke, she felt so refreshed because she had finally gotten a decent amount of sleep. She momentarily forgot how she had manged to sleep after having that horrible nightmare, but then it all slowly came back to her as her eyes began to adjust to the morning light. She couldn't stop herself from blushing furiously when she felt herself pressed so closely against Byakuya, but she just couldn't find it in herself to move away. To her, for as cold as he always seemed to act, he was actually quite warm. She felt safe and protected in his arms. Instead of feeling uneasy she felt comfortable and didn't want to move away no matter what, but she knew she would have to soon.

Her grip on Byakuya's shihakusho tightened unknowingly as those thoughts went through her mind, knowing she would soon lose the warmth she was receiving from him. Byakuya looked down in slight concern at her when he felt her clutch his robes tighter to notice that she was awake. She looked upset though and he couldn't feel a pull at his heartstrings when he saw her that way. He hated seeing her like this because it hurt him too. When she was upset he was upset and when she was physically hurt it also made him feel pain both physically and emotionally. He never showed these feelings though, he kept these feelings in the dark and to himself.

The birds chirped and the sun continued to rise as they lay in silence for a few more moments. Byakuya couldn't wait any longer though, he had to know about Rukia's nightmare.

"Tell me about your nightmare last night..." He said as he and Rukia continued to lay in each others arms.

Rukia moved her head to look up at him before resting it on his chest once more, "It was something bad that had happened when I was young. I hadn't had any kind of food to eat for a couple of days...so I had to resort to stealing. I didn't want to, but I had no other choice. I tried to steal some bread, but the old man that I stole from caught me...I tried to take the food and run. I ran and ran, even as the man through rocks at me as he chased me down the road." She explained, Byakuya's grip unknowingly tightened when she had mentioned the rocks, "When I turned a corner to try to lose him...I hit a dead in. I hid behind some crates that were piled up on the ground, but the man caught me...and beat me until I started to bleed and cry out from the pain...After that he left, taking the food with him."

Byakuya couldn't help but feel shocked, though the only thing that showed his shock were his widened eyes. "You were just a child..." He muttered without thinking of how stupid that reply really was.

"To the residents...It didn't matter. If you got caught you had to take whatever beatings came to you if you couldn't get away. Sometimes those that got caught never even came back, no matter how young they were..." Rukia said after a short moment of surprise because Byakuya had actually said something in reply.

Byakuya couldn't reply that time, because he knew she was right. He held her for a few more moments before reluctantly sitting up. Rukia moved to sit up shortly after, but she didn't say anything either. She did feel better though, after talking with Byakuya about that memory of her childhood. She never really shared those bad memories with anyone, but now that she had she felt like a weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. Just thinking about that made her smile softly.

Byakuya looked over to Rukia while she was lost in her thoughts. He didn't know why but when he saw that smile appear on her face he felt a warm feeling within him. Rukia looked over to him, only to turn her head directly down to her hands when she noticed him staring at her. It was only when she peeked through her hair to see that he had turned his head away to gaze at the ground.

"We should get going." Byakuya said as he stood from his seated position.

"Yes, Nii-sama" Rukia said as she watched Byakuya move to pack his things.

Rukia stood and the blanket that had been covering them fell off of her. She picked it up realizing it was Byakuya's. She had originally thought he had just taken the both of theirs to cover them up last night, but when she looked down she noticed she was standing on hers.

_'Nii-sama must of awoken in the middle of the night and took my blanket and put it under us to keep us from getting too dirty.'_ Rukia realized, unable to help herself from smiling at the thought.

"Nii-sama." She called. When he turned to face her she held out the blanket. "Thank you for helping me get a good night's sleep." She told him, unable to hide her smile that was still evident on her face.

Byakuya nodded to her as he took the blanket from her before proceeding to pack it up in his bag neatly.

–

Byakuya and Rukia had been walking for nearly an hour as they made their way through the forest like they had the previous day. So far they hadn't run into any hollows, but they kept their guards up; knowing one could attack at any time.

Rukia looked over to Byakuya as they walked. They hadn't really spoken to each other since morning and for some reason that irritated her a bit.

"It's nice out today." Rukia said, trying to start a conversation.

"Yes. It is." Byakuya replied after taking a short glance at Rukia before shifting back to view what was ahead of him.

Rukia smiled, she was glad that Byakuya had replied. Though she felt a little disappointed because she couldn't think of anything else to say to him. Rukia was lost in her thoughts, thinking about other things that could possibly keep a conversation going. Suddenly, she felt something hit the top of her chest. She looked down to see it was Byakuya's arm that was preventing her to go any further. She looked up to him to see him staring out in front of him.

"Nii-sama?"

"Something's coming." Byakuya replied before Rukia could ask.

"A hollow?"

"Yes and a strong one."

Suddenly, Byakuya swiftly turned around, his sword drawn, as he was pushed back, out of Rukia's sight, by blocking the attack of a rather large hollow; which was obviously stronger than the ones they had previously faced yesterday.

"Nii-sama!" Rukia called out worriedly when the hollow had attacked him. She was relieved though when she saw him again and that he was uninjured. The hollow kept moving at a very quick pace, causing Byakuya's attacks to miss.

The hollow suddenly appeared behind Byakuya, who was unable to get away fast enough as the hollow struck down on him; cutting his left shoulder.

"Nii-sama!" Rukia called out in concern again before attempting to run to him, but something grabbed her from behind. She felt one of her captive's arms go tightly around her neck, choking her as the other held her hands behind her back. She was unable to see who was holding her and the hollow was keeping Byakuya too occupied to notice. She felt her captive's hot breath breathing on her.

"Do not interfere." The voice, clearly male, of the person holding her said. There was a slight hiss in his deep, sinister sounding voice.

"W-who....are...........y-you?" Rukia choked out when she was able to catch some breath.

Before a reply could be said she felt the man's death grip on her leave as he suddenly jumped back and fled, dodging a very obviously furious and protective Byakuya's attack. The hollow Byakuya was fighting had backed off a short moment ago and fled after he had cut it's leg.

Byakuya looked over to Rukia, who was bent over as she tired to regain her breath, in concern. He hadn't even noticed the man holding Rukia in his clutches, choking her, until the last minute. He had felt a flare of anger, protectiveness, and something he couldn't quite put a name to within him when he saw that shadowy figure.

"Are you alright?" Byakuya asked as he approached her.

"I-I'm...fine..." Rukia said after nodding in reply. She then looked up to him in concern before letting her eyes wander to the cut on his shoulder.

"I'm alright." Byakuya said after following Rukia's gaze to see what she looked so worried about. "I'll heal it when we stop to settle down for the night."

Byakuya tried to walk away then, but Rukia grabbed the sleeve of Byakuya's shihakusho; causing him to look down at her with slightly widened eyes and he was even more surprised when he saw how serious her expression was.

Rukia didn't know how or why, but as soon as she heard Byakuya just simply disregard his injury until later she felt a surge of slight anger and enough bravery to stand up to him.

"What's wrong?" He asked in slight confusion when Rukia had not said anything.

Rukia looked around at the surrounding area as she moved her grip on his sleeve down to his wrist before pulling him over to a fallen tree that could be used like a bench.

"Rukia...?"

The only response Byakuya received was when Rukia gently pushed him down to sit on the fallen tree. He then understood what she was doing when he saw and felt her lean over slight and begin using kidou to heal his wound. He sat patiently until she was done, which didn't really take too long. Once she was finished she backed away a few steps, giving him room to stand. Her nervousness had returned to her quickly before she was finished and she was now staring down at the ground while her hands intertwined with one another.

_'What in the world just came over me!?'_ Rukia thought, _'I'm such an idiot...'_

"I'm s-sorry....Nii-sama." Rukia muttered nervously.

Byakuya stared at her for a moment before he stood and approached her. "It's alright, thank you."

Rukia looked up at him in mild surprise, she wasn't really expecting him to say anything back to her.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Byakuya asked before Rukia could shift her gaze down again.

Rukia nodded, "I'm fine."

"Did that man say anything to you? Anything important?"

"No. He didn't, but...I have this feeling he's going to come back."

"I see." Byakuya said before his expression changed to look as if he were in deep thought. "Since we're unsure of whether who ever attacked you will come back I would suggest we stay close at all times, even as we sleep. Just to be on the safe side."

Rukia hesitated before replying, "Alright, Nii-sama..." She could feel her face heating up, knowing it was probably obvious on her face.

They stood in silence before Byakuya looked up at the sky, which was turning dark because of the clouds; signaling a storm was approaching. Rukia looked up with widened eyes when she heard thunder, but she wasn't looking up at the sky for long before she felt Byakuya's arm go around her shoulders as he began to lead her off.

"It's about to storm, we need to find shelter before we're soaked." Byakuya asked when he noticed Rukia's confused expression.

Rukia nodded in reply and let Byakuya lead them away.

–

It had started pouring down rain as soon as Byakuya and Rukia had found shelter. To prevent Rukia from getting wet he took off his haori and put it over Rukia's head. The shelter they had found was a small cave that wasn't deep at all. Only big enough to fit the two of them and their stuff if they squeezed themselves in it just right. Byakuya took his haori from Rukia and placed it on the ground for them to sit on. He placed their belongings on the opposite side of the cave, across from them.

Rukia had taken a seat on Byakuya's haori, her knees pulled up to chest as she tried to leave as much room as possible. Byakuya took a seat closely next to her on her right, she could feel their sides pressing against each other. His left arm, which was currently squeezed in between Rukia and him was becoming uncomfortable. He moved it to go around Rukia's shoulders, making her blush slightly.

"We'll wait out the storm and then start moving again." Byakuya explained as he looked out at the growing storm.

When Rukia didn't reply he looked down at her. She was staring out at the storm with slightly widened eyes.

_'What's wrong with her...?'_ Byakuya wondered silently. He soon found out though when the loud thunder began booming again, causing Rukia to gasp in fright before unconsciously moving to bury her head in Byakuya's robes and wrap her arms around his waist._ 'She's scared of thunder...'_ He realized with surprise.

Rukia then realized what she had just done and moved back slightly, "I'm sorry."

The only response she got was when Byakuya pushed her back against him like she previously was.

"It's alright, the storm will pass in a matter of time." He told her in a rather gentle tone.

She stayed still momentarily before wrapping her arms around him again and burying her face in his robes again.

The storm was still going strong even after ten minutes had passed. Rukia had fallen asleep and was now sleeping peacefully in the same position she had been in, lying against Byakuya. Byakuya himself though was struggling to to stay awake. He wasn't sure of the time anymore because of the storm. He kept drifting off from time to time but he didn't want to sleep. He was worried for Rukia's safety. Whoever that man was might come back to find them and try to take her away from him and he wasn't about to let that happen. He looked out at the storm once more, seeing how bad it was; realizing that nothing could possibly get through it and it would be safe for him to get some rest. He carefully leaned over and took out the blanket in one of their bags to drape it over them before turning slightly so that his back was facing the storm. He shut his eyes and rested his face against Rukia's hair and soon he was fast asleep.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry I couldn't have it out early today. I went to the movies with a friend and we loved it. We saw Shutter Island. I think our favorite part of the movie was the music but we did enjoy the overall plot to it.**

**I'm almost done writing out chapter thirteen of this story. I should be done with chapter thirteen and be able to start on chapter fourteen either tomorrow or Monday. I'll have chapter six up next weekend like always. I'm so happy I almost reached forty reviews with the last chapter. I REALLY hope I can reach fifty with this one. **

**Please, Read and Review!**

**Just remember, NO FLAMING!**


	6. Chapter 6

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Six~

Rukia awoke as the light of the sun hit her eyes. When she awoke the first thing she felt was Byakuya's breath on her neck and his arms wrapped tightly around her. She looked down at his sleeping face and couldn't help but smile.

_'Nii-sama looks so peaceful and....beautiful...when he sleeps.' _Rukia thought, unable to lie to herself about how beautiful she thought he was.

Rukia let one of her hands venture to his face and lightly wipe a stray strand of hair from his face.

"...Rukia..." Byakuya muttered in his sleep before nuzzling his face closer against her neck and pulling her closer to him, causing Rukia to retract her hand and look down at him in surprise.

Rukia smiled, but not even a few seconds after that did she let out a few quiet coughs that were painful to her throat. She looked at Byakuya to make sure she hadn't disturbed him and was relieved to she she hadn't. She momentarily wondered why she had coughed and why her throat was hurting.

_'It was probably just a random thing...I'll feel better later.'_ She assumed, _'I also don't feel too well...Maybe I haven't gotten enough sleep.' _

She looked out at the caves opening to see it was still rather early, _'Guess I have time to get a little more rest. Maybe I'll feel better when I wake up.'_ She decided before cuddling up against Byakuya again, finding comfort and a feeling of safety in his embrace. She shut her eyes and in a matter of moments she drifted off again.

–

The sun continued to rise as the next hour passed and Byakuya awoke. He was awakened by Rukia's soft coughing. He looked down in slight concern but was unable to suppress an almost silent gasp when he noticed bruises on her neck. He guessed she had gotten them from the man that had choked her, his hold must have been tight enough to cause the bruises to appear. He gently took his hand from its position on Rukia's side to glide over the bruises. Rukia stirred as she began to wake up, causing Byakuya to retract his hand and place it on her side again.

Rukia awoke with a small cough and blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. She looked up at Byakuya to see him looking down at her.

"N-" She began to say.

"Don't talk." Byakuya interrupted, knowing it would hurt her to speak. "Your neck is bruised, so don't speak for now." He answered when he saw her confused expression.

He then moved to get up but as soon as he did Rukia's hand shot out to grab him by his sleeve and pull him back down into the same position he had been in before. He looked down at her in surprised confusion before he saw her frown and shake her head.

"Pl-please stay...Cou-ld _ack_! Could w-we just stay...here f-for the day?" She replied hoarsely, going against his order of not talking because she feared he wouldn't understand. "I...D-do-"

"Alright...but only if you stop straining your voice." Byakuya said, cutting her off. "You need to rest your voice or it will only get worse."

Rukia stared at him for a moment before nodding, letting him know she understood. Byakuya's eyes widened slightly when Rukia; who was blushing slightly, slid back under his arm and cuddled back up against his side before closing her eyes. Byakuya noticed her blush and wondered slightly why she was, he noticed she tended to blush quite often in his presence or even at the mere mention of him. One thought came to mind on why, but he quickly shook it off.

_'It's the only answer I can fathom though...anything else wouldn't make sense...' _

He was unable to help but wish his assumption was correct. For a long time now he couldn't hide the fact that his feeling for Rukia had grown to become something that wouldn't be considered the feelings that a brother would have. He kept his feelings deeply hidden though, because he considered them impossible. He thought it was an impossibility that she would ever feel the same way.

Byakuya looked down at Rukia to see she had fallen asleep again,_ 'I guess those first couple of days of no sleep finally caught up to her.'_ He guessed silently.

Since he wasn't feeling tired at all he just he just sat there, allowing Rukia to sleep. After a moment though he looked down at her again and was unable to stop a smile from slipping. To him, she looked so peaceful and beautiful as she slept. He brought his hand back up to her face to brush a strand of hair from her face before placing it on her side again.

He turned his head to look outside. He could see that most of the ground and grass were wet with rain water and that there were numerous puddles everywhere. He figured it was for the best Rukia wanted to stay here for the remainder of the day, seeing as how they could avoid getting filthy for no reason because of the mud...That and Rukia needed the rest.

–

Over half an hour passed before Rukia started to wake up again. She sat up as best she could as she rubbed her eyes before opening them. When Rukia looked up to see Byakuya staring down at her she immediately blushed and shifted her gaze down in hope that he hadn't seen her blush. His expression turned into a confused one as she hid her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Rukia shook her head in embarrassment as a reply.

The truth was, when she had looked up at Byakuya she had been reminded of the dream she had just had. In the dream she remembered that Byakuya and her had been kissing. She knew why she had had the dream, but she didn't want him to know about it; though her attempts at hiding her emotions had obviously failed.

Byakuya could tell something was up, but he knew he wouldn't get much of an answer since Rukia couldn't talk without feeling pain. Reluctantly, he let the subject drop.

Rukia looked up to face Byakuya again, her blush still clear on her face. She had a smile on her face and gave a slight shake on his arm as if she were trying to ask him something.

"What is it?" He asked in questioning tone.

Rukia sat up slightly, her hands sill on Byakuya's arms. Suddenly, Rukia climbed over him and pulled him outside. She didn't know why but she felt a little braver today, much like she had when she had stood up to Byakuya to heal his injury the previous day.

Once they were outside Rukia leaned down, with Byakuya's arm still in her grasp, before grabbing a stick that was lying on the ground. She had pulled Byakuya down with her to where they were both squatting on the balls of their feet. Rukia then proceeded to use the stick to write in the dirt.

"_I know this forest, I never told you but when I was young I used to come here to take walks and stuff when I felt like being along. I sometimes even spent days here in this forest during my walks."_ She wrote.

Rukia then scribbled that out once she knew Byakuya had finished reading and she began writing again.

"_I know a great place nearby with a view that also is near a clearing where fresh and juicy berries and even some apples growing." _

Rukia looked up at Byakuya to study his expression. After he was done reading he turned to Rukia.

"Lead the way." He said before giving Rukia, much to her extreme shock, a small smile.

Rukia almost even fell back in surprise, but Byakuya grabbed and pulled her up before she fell. Rukia tried to express her surprise using her hands but Byakuya took a hold of them.

"It's not like I don't have the ability to smile Rukia." Byakuya explained, slightly amused. He had taken the chance to show more emotion in front of her and he was surprised at her reaction.

Rukia was still blushing, she blinked a few times before giving a slow, single nod. She then smiled back at him before taking his hand and pulling him in the direction she was trying to take him but he stopped her. She looked back at him in confusion.

Byakuya pointed back to the small cave, "We have to get our stuff." He replied simply but still smiling at Rukia, making her blush in embarrassment at her forgetfulness as she watched him get their things and come back to her.

When he was at her side, he took the chance of slipping his hand back into hers; causing Rukia's face to go even redder before she tightened her hand around his and started walking.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**PREVIEW to Chapter 7:**

_Moments later, Byakuya felt Rukia tug at his sleeve before running forward. He guessed they had arrived at the spot she had told him about and when he looked forward to view the spot and was unable to stop himself from letting an almost inaudible gasp slip._

**There's Chapter Six and the preview to chapter seven! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I added the preview so it will hopefully make up for the shortness of this chapter. THANK YOU all for the wonderful reviews, you wouldn't BELIEVE how happy I was to actually go passed my goal! Even though it was only three reviews passed that still means a lot to me. **

**ALRIGHT, NEWS TIME**

**I'm trying to come up with a decent plot to my next ByaRuki fic.  
If ANYONE (Doesn't matter how many, I'll need multiple people to help) is willing to help, PLEASE PM ME so I can give the small details of what I'm trying to do.  
I'm really hoping some of you can help me spark my ideas again. I want to start on the fic as soon as I'm done writing _Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon_ and by the pace I'm writing it at it won't be much longer. So please PM me if you want to help, I would greatly appreciate it. **

**Please, Read and Review!**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!**


	7. Chapter 7

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Seven~

Byakuya and Rukia had been walking well over twenty minutes. Byakuya, at first, wondered if Rukia even knew where she was going but she seemed to know her way. He couldn't help but let a small smile slip as he watched Rukia in front of him, happily leading the way. He was glad she seemed to be happy and enjoying herself, despite not being able to talk. He could clearly see a big smile spread across her face.

Moments later, Byakuya felt Rukia tug at his sleeve before running forward. He guessed they had arrived at the spot she had told him about and when he looked forward to view the spot and was unable to stop himself from letting an almost inaudible gasp slip. Rukia had certainly been right, the view was fantastic. They were on the side of the mountain and if you stood on the ledge and looked hard enough, you could see the Senzaikyū in the distance. There was also a spot above where the mountain overlapped them, providing a roof-like structure and against the back wall of the mountain under the overlapping part there was a rather large, flat, leveled rock that could be used as a seat or even a bed because of it's size. A few feet away on the left of the rock was a small pond that was also covered by the "roof" the mountain provided.

"How were you able to find such a place?" Byakuya asked as he placed their bags on the ground next to the large rock.

Rukia grabbed a small twig that was on the ground before going over to Byakuya and lightly tugging on the edge of his sleeve. Once she had gotten his attention she leaned over and began writing on the ground.

"_I was taking a walk one day through the mountains when I was young and on the second day I was here I just happen to come across it."_ She wrote. She waited until Byakuya finished reading until she erased what she had written.

"Why were you out here that long?" Byakuya questioned.

Rukia looked up at him before she began writing again, _"I just wanted to get away from Inuzuri for awhile." _

"I see..." Byakuya said, giving a single nod at her answer.

He then got up from his leaning position and walked over the large rock, "Rukia, come here." He said as he took a seat.

"I'm going to try to heal your neck. It might help." Byakuya explained once Rukia was seated next to him. Rukia gave a nod, letting him know it was alright for him to proceed.

Byakuya moved his hands carefully and gently to Rukia's bruised neck before proceeding to use a healing kidou to heal whatever he could. Thankfully, the bruises started to disappear after a few minutes; much to Byakuya's relief. He was also thankful that it actually didn't take too long to heal her neck completely. Rukia was still unaware of that though, but she did know that she felt a lot better.

"How do you feel?" Byakuya asked, but as he spoke he motioned with his hands for Rukia to speak her answer.

"I feel a lot better." Rukia answered and smiled. Byakuya did too when he heard Rukia was able to talk again; her voice coming out normal, just the way it was supposed to be.

"Thank you, Nii-sama."

Byakuya small nod in reply but then asked, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No, I'm fine." Rukia answered before turning her head to stare out at the view for a moment or two before turning back to Byakuya, who had been watching her the entire time. " I used to come here a lot after I found it...even after I had met Renji and his other friends, but I never told them about this place because I wanted to keep it a secret. I wanted a place to go to where I could just be alone and not worry about anything." She then turned her gaze to the sky once again before continuing, "I never thought I would ever have the chance to come back here, much less let someone else know of this place." She looked back to Byakuya and smiled happily.

Byakuya never would of guessed this place meant so much to her, but secretly, he was really happy that Rukia had shared this little fact about her life with him that no one else knew about. He wouldn't admit it, but it meant a lot to him; he was glad he was finally getting closer to her after all the years they had known one another. When he thought about it, he honestly felt closer to Rukia than he ever did with Hisana. She never was really one for conversation at times and she never really told him much about her life in Rukongai. She was always so quiet and too preoccupied with her search for Rukia to really interact much with him, but here Rukia was, the girl he had treated so coldly when they had first met and pretty much flat out ignored for almost fifty years, happily telling him things about her and her life that no one but herself knew about.

"What time do you think it is?" Rukia asked, turning to face Byakuya.

Byakuya looked up at the sky before answering, "If I were to guess I would say it's around three in the afternoon."

As soon as he had said that he noticed Rukia gain an impatient, disappointed expression. "What's wrong?" He asked in a slightly curious tone.

Rukia then noticed her mistake in revealing her impatience and quickly turned her head to face the sky again, "It's nothing..." She then let her eyes peek over to Byakuya again to see he was still looking at her before shifting her gaze back to what was in front of her.

Byakuya could already tell he wasn't going to get an answer from her at that moment, so he tried to put it at the back of his mind for the time being. Rukia then stood up from her seated position to walk over to the edge of the mountainside and looked down at the drop.

"I almost fell from from this spot once when I was young." She explained, copying her movements as she explained them, "I had been walking on the edges of the cliff one day and just...slipped." She then pretended to lose her balance on the edge, but her act didn't humor Byakuya in any way. So he, without thinking, used shun po to get over to her so he could grab her by wrapping his arms around her, which surprised her, before he moved her back to sit the rock; keeping his arms around her so she wouldn't get up again but also because he secretly didn't want to let her go.

"I had been hanging over the edge for a short moment before I was finally able to pull myself up again." Rukia said, finishing her story. She didn't let Byakuya know but she actually didn't mind his sudden embrace. Moments later Byakuya slowly moved his arms back to his sides.

"Did you ever explore when you were young?" Rukia asked curiously.

"I didn't. I was always too busy learning how to be a proper head of the family and working to meet their expectations."

Rukia couldn't help but frown slightly in reply.

"What's wrong?" Byakuya asked.

"It's nothing...I just couldn't help but feel a little bad for you...because you had to work so hard all the time even though you were still young."

Byakuya gazed at her a few more moments before leaving it at that and looking out at the sky again.

–

Later on, once the moon was almost up, Byakuya noticed Rukia was walking...or more like pacing in front of him as he sat on the rock. She constantly kept her gaze at the rising moon and sometimes she shifted her eyes over to him, but not often.

Byakuya had his eyes shut after watching Rukia pace for about six more minutes. He had almost fell into a light sleep but he was suddenly shaken out of his doze when Rukia grabbed his arm and began to pull him up to stand. Byakuya allowed her to drag him to where ever she was going.

"What are you doing?" Byakuya asked.

"You'll see." Rukia replied in an excited tone. "Come on."

Rukia then sudden reached up and covered Byakuya's eyes with her hands before walking a few more steps and stopping.

"Lean down." Rukia said in the same tone before the two of then leaned down into a kneeling position.

"Now look down." Rukia said as she removed her hands from Byakuya's eyes. She kept her own gaze to examine Byakuya's expression.

When Byakuya looked down he unconsciously let out an almost silent gasp as his eyes widened. Rukia had taken him to the small pond that was only a few steps away from where they had previously been. Except the pond was practically sparkling with an iridescent light.

"There's many small crystals embedded on the floor of this shallow pond and when the moon hits the water at just the right angle it'll cause the crystals to make the water look as if it were lighted." Rukia explained, "I found out about this when I was staying here one time. I thought it was a really beautiful sight."

Byakuya nodded in agreement, _'It really is....'_ He thought in slight amazement.

Not even a moment later, the water stopped shining. "It doesn't last for long, but it's worth the long wait to see it." Rukia explained.

Unconsciously, Rukia, who was smiling softly, laid her head on Byakuya's shoulder. He had grown used to Rukia's growing affection toward him so he didn't mind the sudden contact, he actually liked it. Though only after a short moment Rukia stood and began walking towards the rock to sit down on before shifting her gaze to the stars while Byakuya made his way over to the rock to sit down next to her. She looked over to him and gave him a small smile, she was happy that he had liked the little "light show" the small pond had provided them.

"Hopefully tomorrow will be another good day." Rukia said with a content sigh.

Byakuya couldn't help himself from nodding in agreement. _'Today was rather relaxing.'_ He thought to himself.

Rukia then started to looked around, which made Byakuya curious as to what she was looking for. She then crawled to the back wall of the mountain, wearing a small smile as she found what she was looking for. Byakuya moved over to her to see what she had found and discovered she was looking at old drawings that were etched into the stone-like wall of the mountain.

_'Rukia must have made these'_ Byakuya guessed as he noticed most of the drawings were small bunnies.

He then felt Rukia nudge his arm; he looked down to see Rukia, who was trying to get him to take a small but sharp stone. Byakuya took it but still wasn't sure at what she wanted him to do.

"Write something." Rukia said, amused at his confused expression.

Byakuya then understood what the stone was for, but he didn't know what to write or what Rukia was really expecting him to write. In the end, he simply settled on etching his name into wall. Rukia gave a small giggle and took the stone from him before etching in her own name closely under his own before giving a smile, which Byakuya couldn't help but return.

"What are we going to do once we return home?" Rukia asked after turning around and resting her back against the wall.

"I'm just going to go back to my normal routine of of work like always." Byakuya replied, "Why do you want to know?"

Rukia shrugged, "I don't know, I just wanted to make a little more conversation before it's time to get some sleep."

That statement reminded the both of them that it was starting to get late and that they needed their rest. Byakuya then moved to grab their blankets from their bags. He laid one of the blankets on the rock's hard surface to make them more comfortable. He waited until Rukia was lying down closely beside him to his left before he lied down himself and draped the other blanket over them. Rukia snuggled up next him and rested her head on his chest even though she knew she didn't have to, but she wanted to.

"Goodnight." Rukia said once she was comfortable, shutting her eyes as she said it.

"Goodnight." Byakuya answered back and moments later he knew Rukia was asleep.

Byakuya wasn't very tired though at the time and just simply laid there with Rukia in his arms. He had grown to love holding her close to him and lying beside her as she slept, but he knew once the mission was over they would end up going back to their normal routine.

_'I wonder if that's why she's being more affectionate towards me than usual.' _Byakuya thought, but his expression soon changed to that of a surprised one when he heard Rukia begin to mumble in her sleep.

"Byakuya...." She mumbled in a tired but happy sounding tone.

Byakuya leaned his head back to look at her face and was surprised to see a peaceful but happy smile on her face. He couldn't help but wonder what she could be dreaming about now. He had heard her call him by his name and nothing else and...he could have sworn his heart had skipped a beat at that moment.

He felt Rukia tighten her grip on him before she mumbled some more, muffled by his robes though, "I love you..."

After hearing her say that his embrace tightened on her as he buried his face into her hair, unable to help a small ghost of a smile appear, "I love you too....Rukia..."

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**I'm so sorry I couldn't get this out last week. I had a lot of school work to work on and I still do, mainly projects...and I've been playing Pokemon SoulSilver and HeartGold. I'm addicted....I admit it. XD**

**I also FINISHED writing this entire story on Friday and on Monday I will begin working on it's sequel. I've had the idea for the sequel in my head for almost a month but I wasn't sure about making it a sequel. Though I decided that I would. So I really hope you'll enjoy the sequel when it comes out. I had actually thought that this one was the longest chapter until I had gotten it out. turns out it 's chapter five. Hmm, surprising. Though I think that chapter sixteen is longer still. That one took me awhile to write....though after this authors note chapter seven actually may be the longer chapter. XD**

**Though I may have added more to chapter five than what I actually wrote. I didn't add anything extra to chapter seven so that may be the case, I'm going to have to read through it again. Sorry that chapter six was so short, when I was writing it I didn't know what else to add and when I started on chapter seven it was really troublesome for me to correctly describe the spot Rukia took him. SOOOOO I have provided an image of what it SORT OF looks like on my profile. The screenshot I provide is basically from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky. It's the secret base that your partner used to live before becoming an explorer. xD  
**

**Thank you everyone for all the reviews~  
My goal this time is 70 reviews, hopefully I can get them before my next update. I really hope so, it really motivates me to get this stuff typed up faster. **

**Well, until next week~**

**Bai Bai!**

**Remember READ and REVIEW.**

**Just remember, NO FLAMING!**


	8. Chapter 8

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Eight~

Rukia awoke with a smile of happiness spread across her face that she just couldn't hide. She had slept so well and as a bonus she had also had the most wonderful dream. She had dreamed of Byakuya and her once again. She couldn't deny that these dreams brought her happiness but also...sadness, making her frown when she looked at Byakuya sleeping beside her, because she knew they would never become reality. She made the best out of them though because of the joy they secretly brought her.

She looked at Byakuya once more with a smile. _'I wonder what Nii-sama might be dreaming about...'_ She thought as she felt Byakuya's arms around her waist pull her closer to him and his embrace become more secure. Her smile widened. _'He looks so peaceful and beautiful in his sleep...especially since he doesn't have that emotionless mask of his to worry about'_ She then carefully lifted her hand to brush away a strand of hair that was in his face, but when she pulled away Byakuya was awake and watching her.

Blushing furiously, Rukia quickly shifted her gaze down. "Sor-"

"It's alright." Byakuya interrupted before moving his fingers under her chin to lift her head back up. "How long have you been awake?"

"Only a few minutes." She replied, "How did you sleep?"

That question caught Byakuya slightly off guard. "I slept fine." Byakuya replied after a short pause, "What about you?"

Rukia's blush returned then, Byakuya saw but didn't say anything about it. "I...slept good too....Um...How much farther do we have to travel?"

"This is as far as we have to go. We just need to search out the strong hollows and whatever or whoever attacked you."

"Are you sure that we can even find that guy again?" She asked in slight surprise.

Byakuya shook his head, "I'll find him eventually...even if it takes a few extra days to do it."

Rukia stared at him wordlessly. _'Nii-sama sounded so serious then...as if he were angry. I wonder if he noticed that he had tightened his hold on me as well....'_

Byakuya didn't tell her, but he couldn't help himself but grow angry at the mere thought of the man that had attacked her...and was angry at himself for not being able to do anything.

Rukia waited a few more moments before she slowly began to sit up. She looked up at the sky before looking down at Byakuya again with a smile.

"Looks like we had another late start today."

Byakuya nodded in reply before sitting up himself. Rukia looked over to him to see him looking off to the side; wearing an expression that made him look to be in deep thought.

He was indeed thought, he was thinking back to the night before when he had heard Rukia talk in her sleep. It hadn't stopped going through his mind ever since. He could of sworn he must of even been thinking about it in his sleep. He knew his true feelings for her but even after last night he was still unsure of hers. _'For all I know she might not of even meant what she was saying...'_ He thought, but he began to doubt that when he thought back to their previous days of this mission. Whenever he had so much as lay a hand on her or whenever he did something nice or caring for her...almost all of the time she seemed to blush in his presence. He then got thoughts that he had also noticed that whenever he saw Renji or even Ichigo did anything nice for her she usually just thanked them and went on with what ever she was busy doing at the moment or just excused herself and left.

He was being faced with a tough decision..._'Should I come out with my feelings or not?'_ It was a serious decision and he knew it. If he can out with his feelings and she ended up not feeling the same he knew things would never really be the same between them again. _'Should I risk it or not...?'_

Rukia was beginning to become a little concerned, she reached over to touch his arm and that's when he did something that he would normally never do. He jumped a little at the contact of her hand. Rukia's eyes widened as a response, _'He must of really been in deep thought...'_

"Nii-sama, is something wrong?" She asked in concern.

Byakuya looked at her for a moment before shaking his head slightly, "Nothing is wrong, just ignore it."

Rukia frowned, not believing him but she wasn't going to push him. If there was something he had on his mind it was up to him to decide on whether he wanted to share his thoughts with her or not.

"How are we going to start today off?" She asked, trying to start a conversation.

Byakuya looked over to her before looking thoughtful for a moment again. _'I guess I could use today to drop hints or see if I can catch anymore abnormal reactions or actions from her...'_ He thought before looking over to Rukia. "We'll eat first since you didn't have anything yesterday."

Byakuya caught Rukia's almost unnoticeable blush and a small glimmer of a smile that she held back.

"Come on, let's go find something to eat." Byakuya said as he stood. Rukia nodded and quickly moved over to him to walk beside him.

As they walked side by side they accidentally brushed hands; making Rukia blush slightly at the contact. She looked up at Byakuya and she could have sworn she had just seen a smile on his face before it turned back to his normal emotionless expression.

–

Soon they found a small clearing where some apples and berries were growing. Rukia had been the one to point it out and find it since she knew the surrounding area. They sat on the ground in the clearing as they ate.

Byakuya watched Rukia out of the corner of his eye as they ate sometimes and occasionally he caught her glancing at him. It was after a few more moments before he made his decision.

Rukia had noticed that Byakuya had stopped eating . She turned her head to face him to see he was looking down at her.

"Nii-" Rukia said, but was cut off as the apple in Byakuya's hand dropped from his hands as he leaned in and pressed his lips softly against her own. The apple Rukia had been eating had dropped from her own hands as her eyes widened. She didn't know what to think. She was just so surprised but she...liked it. Ever since she had discovered that she had strong feelings for Byakuya she had wanted this, and now it was happening. She slowly found herself kissing him back, wrapping her arms around his neck as his went around her waist.

Too soon they broke apart. Byakuya rested his forehead against Rukia's. His left hand moved up to rest rest on her cheek as Rukia's hands moved down to clutch the front of his robes. Byakuya noticed her red cheeks that were caused by her blush and couldn't help but smile. He could tell she was confused at their earlier actions but didn't seem to mind that they had happened either. She shifted her gaze to look him in the eyes and then Byakuya could clearly see her confusion yet the longing of wanting it to happen again.

"....Is this...wrong?" Rukia asked hesitantly. She knew that Byakuya knew of her feelings now and there would be no fooling him if she tried to hide them. She felt Byakuya shake his head slowly against hers before he replied.

"You're not really my sister, Rukia." Byakuya said, pausing to let his words sink in. "That was just what a few papers said that are in my possession back at the mansion...Rukia, I've had feelings for you for awhile now and they've just been growing by the day and I can't deny them any longer."

Rukia's eyes widened in surprise at Byakuya's confession. She felt a smile form on her face which told Byakuya that his decision to make his move had been a good one, which made him smile too.

"Ni-...." Rukia stopped herself and looked at him with a confused expression.

Byakuya's smile turned into a small grin before he leaned down to whisper in her ear. When he pulled away to look down at her Rukia looked down before looking back up at him.

"Byakuya." She said, causing the both of them to smile. To Byakuya it was like heaven to his ears, hearing Rukia call his name and nothing more. He leaned in to kiss her once more but the moment their lips touched there was an explosion behind them...as if something had jumped in and were going to attack.

Byakuya pulled Rukia to him and covered her head with his arm as the explosion sent dust flying everywhere. Once the dust cleared Byakuya looked over to the source of the blast with an angered expression. Rukia looked at the direction of the source as well from behind Byakuya's arm.

They both saw a man standing there and Byakuya could immediately tell that this was the man that had hurt Rukia. Rukia felt Byakuya clutch her tightly to his body protectively.

The man wore a slightly tattered shihakusho that had a medium-sized chain that looked to be an accessory. It was wrapped across his right hand shoulder and it went down across his chest and finally it reached to wrap around his obi sash. His hair was a dark, navy blue color and had a few of what seemed to look like violet colored streaks. His hair went down to almost the bottom of his neck, but not quite. His eyes were a dark purple-ish color but seemed to gleam with unresolved fury. Rukia also noticed on the man's left hand that he looked to be wearing a ring of some sort. That's when she noticed it was a wedding band.

"Who are you?" Byakuya asked, keeping Rukia tightly in his grasp. "Are you the one that's causing the hollows to gather?"

The man grinned slightly at Byakuya's questions.

Slowly, Byakuya stood, bringing Rukia up with him. He watched as the man looked at the two of them..as if he were analyzing them.

"You're shinigami..." The man said after a moment of silence.

Neither Byakuya nor Rukia said anything in reply to the man. They could both easily tell he was no ally and would kill them without a second thought.

"My name is Tatsuo...just Tatsuo. I've long abandoned my family name along with the Seireitei." The man said, introducing himself before he disappeared with shun po.

That's when Byakuya felt Tatsuo reappear behind him, ready to strike. Byakuya let go of Rukia, pushed her back, and drew his own sword to block Tatsuo's in a swift movement.

"Shinigami like the two of you should just die." Tatsuo muttered in a rather dark tone before he brought his blade up and roughly swung it down at Byakuya.

Byakuya countered the attack and the ones following it. Tatsuo's attacks were becoming tougher and tougher for Byakuya to counter. _'He's just been toying with me since the beginning...'_ Byakuya realized silently as he felt the strength of Tatsuo's attacks increase with every blow.

Rukia watched worriedly as Byakuya fought. This Tatsuo man was the same man that had attacked her a few days ago, she could tell because she recognized his voice. She silently hoped Byakuya would be alright. She could tell Tatsuo was strong. She wanted to help but she knew she wouldn't stand a chance against him. If it hadn't of been for Byakuya, Tatsuo would have choked her to death a couple of days ago and she knew it.

"Byakuya!" Rukia cried out in concern when she saw Tatsuo cut Byakuya on his side. Byakuya acted as if he were fine though and continued fighting.

Tatsuo was attacking too fast to give Byakuya enough time to use his shikai. After he had countered a few more of Tatsuo's attacks Byakuya finally cut him. It was just a small cut though on his left arm, which Byakuya didn't count as much of a victory. Tatsuo was not only powerful, but extremely skilled. He was definitely not an easy opponent. Byakuya made another quick thrust, hitting Tatsuo's left arm again, but Tatsuo had also made another quick attack and had cut Byakuya's right shoulder; making it harder for him to him to wield his sword.

Byakuya went in to strike again but Tatsuo disappeared with shun po. Byakuya turned around and looked for him but he wasn't able to locate him. Byakuya knew he was still there though, hiding and waiting for the perfect moment to attack. Suddenly Bakuya used shun po to rush over to Rukia.

From behind her, Rukia heard the sound of flesh colliding with a sword. She turned around to see Byakuya standing in front of her and Tatsuo facing him. Rukia looked and saw Byakuya's sword pressed against Tatsuo's right arm, almost deep enough to cut it off but not quite. Tatsuo's sword was pressed deep into Byakuya's left side. Tatsuo cringed for a moment before an evil grin spread across his face. He then suddenly shifted his sword up, vertically slicing Byakuya up his chest before he disappeared; running away from the battle for now.

Rukia gaze was to the sky when Tatsuo disappeared but it was quickly directed at Byakuya when he fell to his knees.

"Byakuya!" Rukia cried before rushing over to his side. She gasped when she saw the blood oozing from him.

"Byakuya!" She called in concern once again, no response from Byakuya though.

"Byakuya!"

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**There's chapter eight, hope you enjoyed. I would really appreciate a review if you did~**

**I actually wrote this one out when I was at home instead of in school. I just wanted to introduce my bad guy and Byakuya and Rukia's new relationship so badly that I couldn't wait. Big thanks to LemGemApple on Deviantart for helping me come up with some of the stuff for Tatsuo. If anyone is wondering what Tatsuo's name means here's the meaning:**

**Tatsuo (1-****竜夫****, 2-****達夫****, 3-****龍雄****): Japanese name meaning 1) "dragon man," 2) "far-reaching man," or 3) "imperial man."**

**Hmm, so poor Byakuya. Will he be alright? What's going to happen?! Find out in the next chapter that will be up next weekend! **

**I've been sort of sidetracked since I've recently ordered yet ANOTHER Byakuya x Rukia doujinshi. I've really been wanting to buy some and I've been low on money...so what do I do when I get my hands on some money of my own? I buy doujinshi of course. XD**

**Well, until next time!**

**~ ByaRukifan**

**Please, Remember READ AND REVIEW**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Nine~

_'Chirping?...Crickets? Wha-'_ Byakuya slowly began to wake up in a tired daze._ 'Ah, why am hurting...'_ He wondered as he felt sharp pains coming from his chest down to his left side.

He tried to lift his head to find out where he was , but he was just too exhausted to do so. Instead he let his eyes roam around the surrounding area. He could clearly tell it was night time, _'How long have I been out?' _

He felt himself lying on a soft fabric that was lying on to of something hard. Everything began to come back to him then. He immediately tried to sit up but only ended up lying back down because of the pain. He moved his hand down to feel the wound and found that it was covered by bandages...but the blood was slowly leaking through it. _'I must have reopened it...' _It was then that he realized that his chest was exposed to the night air, his entire torso was completely bare._ 'Who could have done all thi-'_ "Rukia..." He realized.

He shifted his gaze around to find that she wasn't there, after realizing that he was back at their camp sight. "Where is she...?"

"You're awake!" A familiar voice chimed in a relieved tone.

He turned his head to the side to see Rukia standing in the entryway to their little 'camp home.' He noticed that she held many apples in her arms that he guessed she had gone to gather while he was unconscious. Byakuya then studied the expression on her face and saw that she looked like she had been...crying.

"Ru-"

"You reopened your wounds!" Rukia exclaimed with a frown before she placed the apples on the ground and made her way over to his side.

She began removing the bandages and her frown just grew.

"What's wrong?" Byakuya asked.

Rukia looked over to him, "After you passed out I brought you back here and healed your wounds as well as I could. I could only close it slightly though since I had used most of my strength just to get back here." She explained, "Now it's just going to have to heal on it's own...which may take awhile since we're both exhausted."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's yourself you should be worrying about." Rukia replied, unable to give a small smile.

"You need to rest." Byakuya told her as he examined her tired expression.

"What abou-"

"You're exhausted, Rukia. You need to get some sleep."

Rukia just turned her gaze to the ground instead of moving. She stayed that way for a moment before standing up and walking over to her bag, which was located near the apples, and began going through it. She took out, from what Byakuya could see, some medical supply and a rag before she made her way back to his side.

He was about to ask what she was doing before he saw her beginning to wipe away the blood that surrounded his wound with the rag before she proceeded to dress the wound with the bandages and gauze she had.

"You shouldn't move around much, alright? If you want this wound to heal up faster..." Rukia advised in a serious tone of voice.

Byakuya noticed that she still looked worried and distressed because of his injury. He lifted his hand to caress her cheek in attempt to give her some comfort. Rukia's shoulders started to shake slightly, which told Byakuya she was crying or at least trying to stop herself from doing so.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

Rukia lifted her hand to lie on his hand that was on her cheek, "I'm...I'm so-sorry. You...You're hurt because of me....again."

Byakuya's eyes widened as he listened to her before he used his thumb to wipe the tears away from her face. "There's nothing to apologize for, Rukia. I just want to keep you safe."

Rukia clenched her teeth together in order to stop crying.

"It's alright. I'm sure I'll feel better by tomorrow." Byakuya said soothingly, trying to comfort her. Rukia looked up at him through her tear filled eyes. Byakuya hated seeing her like this, hated seeing her upset. He gave her a small, reassuring smile, "Come over to my other side and lie down."

Rukia hesitantly gave a small nod before crawling over to the other side of him to lie down. Byakuya wrapped his arm around her as Rukia cuddled up next to him. She laid her hand and head on his chest, only then remembering that she had taken off the top part of his shihakusho earlier in order to get to his wounds. Byakuya felt her tense up and could easily tell what she was nervous about.

"It's okay, Rukia. You need to relax....I usually sleep without a top on anyway." Byakuya explained with a small smirk.

"O-Okay..." Rukia said, nodding against his chest before shutting her eyes.

"Thank you, Rukia. For helping me."

–

Rukia felt a little better as she began to wake up, though she did still feel a little exhausted. She looked beside her at Byakuya's sleeping form and smiled. She was happy that they were safe and that Tatsuo didn't know where they were hidden. Rukia shifted her gaze to the sky momentarily before switching it back to Byakuya. She figured he'd probably be asleep for a couple more hours.

Slowly, she got off of the rock and walked towards the cliff's edge. _'I wonder how everyone back in the Seireitei is doing...'_ Her mind quickly shrugged off that thought though when her stomach growled. "Guess I need to eat..."

She made her way over to where her bag and the apples were placed. She took one of the apples from the small pile before walking over to sit down beside the small pond. As she ate her mind drifted to the days before Tatsuo had attacked them. She placed her fingers lightly on her lips, unable to stop a soft smile from appearing. She could hardly believe that that moment had really happened._ 'It was like a dream...' _She couldn't believe that Byakuya had the same feelings for her as she did for him.

"Rukia...?" She heard her name being called.

She turned to see that Byakuya had woken up; earlier than she had expected. She smiled before she stood and made her way over to him. Byakuya smiled when Rukia was at his side before he slowly, and carefully tried to sit up. Rukia frowned worriedly and tried to help him so he wouldn't be in too much pain. He winced some as he moved, but relaxed when Rukia helped him lean back against the smooth rock wall.

"How are you feeling?" Rukia asked.

"A little better." He replied with a small smile, "How long have you been up?"

"About twenty minutes. I didn't wake you because I wanted you to get as much rest as possible."

"Did you go off on your own last night while I was still unconscious?" Byakuya asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Rukai looked down with a frown, "I did."

"That was extremely dangerous, Rukia...You could have been hurt or...worse...What if Tatsuo had come back?"

"I'm sorry..."

He looked down at her before moving his arm to wrap it around her shoulders and pulled her to lay her head against his shoulder.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you....You..." He hesitated, making Rukia look up at him. "You just mean too much to me to just lose."

Rukia's eyes widened at his words before she gave a small gasp at hearing Byakuya hold back a wince, the pain becoming too much for him. She helped him slide back down into a lying position on his back.

"Thank you." Byakuya told her once he was comfortable.

"Is there anything you need?"

"Nothing that I can think of."

Rukia nodded before getting up and walking towards the small apple pile. Byakuya watched her curiously, wondering what she was doing as she went to get something out of her bag.

After a few minutes he saw Rukia put a knife, that she must have brought with her, down next to her bag before standing. When she turned around he saw a cup in her hands as she walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"You need to eat something." She said with a small smile.

Byakuya nodded and looked down at the cup questioningly.

"I used the knife to cut up and crush one of the apples so it would be easier on you to eat." She explained before proceeding to carefully lift his head off of his haori, that Rukia had placed under him the night before to use as a pillow, and put the cup to his lips. It was only when the taste of the crushed apple hit his tongue did he realize how hungry he actually was. Rukia smiled happily when Byakuya started eating. She knew he was hungry even though he never said anything about it. She silently wished she had more than just apples, but she really wasn't comfortable with killing any animals.

"Thanks." Byakuya told her once he had finished off the crushed apple. "...What in the world would others say if they saw me now..."

Rukia grinned, "They wouldn't say anything because I'd shut them up before they uttered their first remark."

Byakuya smiled before bringing his hand up to place it on the back of Rukia's neck, pulling her down and planting a soft kiss on her lips; making her smile grow and causing her cheeks to turn a light shade of pink.

Rukia's smile turned into a frown though a moment after they broke apart, which made Byakuya frown as well.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"What...What's going to happen once we return home?"

Byakuya smiled before pulling her back down to kiss her again, "I was hoping things could continue like they are now."

That made Rukia smile before she leaned down to rest her forehead against his. "I wish I were stronger...If I was I could heal your injury and you'd be all better."

Byakuya moved his hand from the back of her neck up to stroke her hair. "It's alright. Just give me a few days and I'll be fine."

Rukia then lied down next to him, resting her head against his chest.

"Alright." She said, giving a small nod to let him know that she understood.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**There's chapter nine! I actually got this chapter typed out last week because I got super bored. Now I'm probably gonna be bored pretty much the whole weekend because I don't have a chapter to type up. I may start working on chapter ten, I'm not sure. **

**Well, I don't have much to say so I'm just gonna end the author's note here.**

**Please, READ & REVIEW!**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!**


	10. Chapter 10

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Ten~

Rukia awoke later that same night._ 'I must have dozed off...'_ She guessed as she slowly took in the darkened surroundings. She looked down to see Byakuya sleeping peacefully beside her, just seeing him look so relaxed made her smile.

She sat up carefully so she wouldn't disturb him before looking over at the pile of apples she had brought back earlier that day. She frowned; she had been unable to bring enough back with her because she didn't have anything but her arms to carry them in at that moment. She knew the food supply was low and they would be here for quite awhile because of Byakuya's injury. _'I need to go get more...' _

Her frown grew deeper, she knew Byakuya had gotten worried and was unhappy that she had left last night. _'Well...He doesn't have to know....' _She thought before she slowly stood up and quietly crept over to her bag and zanpakutou. She picked them up and gave Byakuya one final glance before heading out.

–

Rukia walked back to the clearing where they had encountered Tatsuo. She looked around and smiled when she found the pile of apples she had placed there the night before that she planned to come back for.

She squatted down in front of the pile and began placing them in her bag. "I'm glad I set these out so I wouldn't have to come back and gather more of them from around the place...saves a lot of time."

Right before she was about to grab the last apple she stopped suddenly, feeling something approach her from behind. Rukia froze, it was a hollow; a strong one. She quickly turned on her heels and unsheathed her zanpakutou as the rather large, dog-like, hollow jumped out at her; it's razor-like looking claws extended. Rukia swiftly moved out of the hollow's range before it's claws could slice her.

"Hadō number four, Byakurai!" Rukia exclaimed, but to her shock; the hollow deflected her blast with it's tail before charging head on at her at a blinding speed.

She jumped out of the way; causing the hollow to miss by a hair. Rukia was unable to regain her balance after her jump and fell to the ground. The hollow came at her again and she tightened her grip on her zanpakutou, but the hollow knocked it from her hands before making a quick turn; hitting Rukia across the face with it's tail, cutting her left cheek which immediately started to bleed.

"Damn..." Rukia cursed before using shun po to get out of the hollow's attack range.

It roared angrily when it's attack missed. Rukia still didn't have enough time to grab her zanpakutou because the hollow was too fast. She could tell the moment it attacked that it wasn't the normal type of hollow that would dwell around here after somehow coming from Hueco Mundo. _'Usually ones this strong stay in Hueco Mundo....Tatsuo must be attracting the stronger ones here with his reiatsu.'_

The hollow suddenly jumped at Rukia again, claws extended and it's sharp teeth bared. Her eye's widened, she didn't have time to even think before she tried jumping to her left to get out of the way. The hollow didn't miss though, it's claws ended up slicing Rukia's right arm in three places and shallowly piercing her left leg. Rukia gritted her teeth in order to stop herself from crying out.

The hollow was about to come back and attack again but Rukia took a chance and made a dash for her zanpakutou as she attempted to ignore the excruciating pain of her injuries.

The hollow jumped at her once more, trying to repeat it's last attack.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia exclaimed, "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"

It was all over then, as the ice froze the hollow in mid air; killing it. Rukia stayed on the ground for a few moments, catching her breath before she slowly stood and sheathed her sword. She hadn't even recovered from healing Byakuya's wonds from earlier and now that she had just used her shikai she was feeling even more exhausted. She winced in pain as the cold air hit her injuries as she limped over to her bag.

Once she was sure the food she had gathered was safe, she slung it over her left shoulder before she began to make her way back to the camp sight. She walked slowly though, and after about five minutes she started becoming dizzy.

"Damn it..." Rukia said breathlessly, cursing her own weakness. _'Sure, I may of killed the hollow...but I still ended up getting hurt. There's no way Byakuya isn't going to notice.'_ Rukia thought with a frown, _'I hope he won't be too angry...he'll be mad I'm sure...'_

–

The sun was beginning to rise by the time she returned. She had had to stop and rest numerous times due to becoming too dizzy at times. She looked to see if Byakuya was still asleep and her eyes widened when she saw him propped up on his elbows, looking at her with an angered expression. He had woken up during the middle of the night while she was gone and had waited up on her. His angered expression though quickly turned to that of a worried one when he saw her injuries.

"What happened?" He asked suddenly, his voice sounded more than just a little concerned.

Rukia put down her bag and clumsily made her way over to him; falling to her knees once she reached him.

"Rukia!" He called, his tone becoming distressed.

She pulled herself up to lie next to him, exhausted from the fight and the walk. She couldn't even find the strength to speak to him at the moment.

"Rukia? What happened?" He asked again in the same tone.

She wanted to answer, she really did. She looked up at him lazily, breathing roughly; "...Hol-hollow...attack..." She managed to say before she passed out.

–

Rukia awoke hours later feeling a lot better and a bit more refreshed. The events of last night and the early morning soon came rushing back to her then. She looked down at her arm to see that it had been bandaged, rather poorly though. The same went for her leg and she also had a small bandage covering her cheek. She looked down to where Byakuya was to see him sleeping.

_'He must of used whatever energy he had he must of used to get over to my bag and get the bandages...and then __come back and take care of me...'_ She realized with a frown.

She knew her injuries weren't fully healed too, Byakuya had only had enough energy to stop the bleeding. Rukia brushed some of Byakuya's hair from his face, "I'm sorry...." She apologized, tears forming in her eyes.

She hated herself at that moment. Hated herself for being so weak,_ 'Byakuya's always risking himself for me...and he always ends up hurt.' _

"I can't believe he's put up with me for so long...." She said before leaning down to kiss his cheek. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry for being so weak..."

"You're not weak..." Byakuya suddenly spoke up.

Rukia looked down at him to see him staring up at her with a serious expression. "Why did you leave? Even after I told you how I felt about that..."

"I'm sorry." Rukia apologized again. "The night before last I didn't really bring back enough food...So I went last night with my bag because I had placed some food out that I had planned to come back for. When I was just about to turn around and head back a hollow attacked and I eventually defeated it...but I ended up getting injured in the process."

Byakuya lifted his hand to wipe the tears from Rukia's face. "When I woke up last night and found you missing I felt worried and....scared for your safety." He explained, his expression becoming softer. "When I waited and waited and you didn't come back I had started fearing the worst." He hooked his fingers under her chin and pulled her down for a kiss.

She kissed him back and moments later, once the kiss was over, Byakuya kept Rukia's face close to his before speaking to her in a light whisper, "Please Rukia, don't ever scare me like that again. Promise me..."

Rukia waited a short moment before responding, "I promise."

Byakuya then kissed her once more, "Thank you." He told her, making her smile.

She leaned her forehead against his and giggled when Byakuya nuzzled her. Rukia lied down next to him, using his shoulder to rest her head on. "How have you been able to constantly live with someone like me..." She asked quietly.

"Rukia, don't treat yourself like that. It was you who brightened my rather dark, work-filled world." He explained, "And more importantly, it was you who gave me a reason to live again."

Rukia's eyes widened at his last statement and she felt them well up with tears once more. She knew he meant every word and she just couldn't help but feel overwhelming happiness because of it. She buried her head into his shoulders so he wouldn't see her tears but she knew he would feel them because the blanket wasn't covering his shoulders.

Byakuya couldn't help but smile. He was happy Rukia was alright and safe. Even though he couldn't fully heal her injuries he had healed it enough to get her out of danger, which really eased some of his worries.

"How are you feeling?" Rukia asked.

"I feel fine. Though I still can't sit up for long before feeling pain but other than that I'm fine."

Rukia nodded against him, "I hope you feel better soon."

"I do too...If I rest enough I should be able to heal my injury on my own."

"I'll help as much as I can."

"I would like that." Byakuya responded with a smile.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**Here's chapter ten! Sorry it's a week late but I just had a lot of really bad family problems that just got really bad. So I couldn't find time to get anything typed out. **

**For those that were confused on my last author's note when I said I got bored and typed up chapter nine early....I meant that I had just been bored at the time and decided to grab my notebook that I had the story written out in and ended up typing the chapter out. **

**I've also gotten up to almost chapter five of this story's sequel. I actually enjoy how it is at the moment too. I hope the story will turn out alright. I'm still developing my villain(s) _(hint, hint) _and it's mainly powers I'm having trouble coming up with. **

**Though it will hopefully be alright. I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I think the next one is longer though. I'm pretty sure it is. Sorry this one is so short. Lol.**

**Well, until next time...**

**Please, Read and Review!**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!**


	11. Chapter 11

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Eleven~

After they had talked, Byakuya had decided to take another nap in which is was now waking from. He looked around for Rukia to find her sitting on the ledge of the mountainside, staring up at the sky. He watched her for a few moments; seeing a smile appear on her face that made him smile as well, he couldn't help it. Whenever he saw her happy he just couldn't stop himself from feeling the same. He loved her smile, it brought him happiness and it calmed him; eased some of his worries.

_'Hm, I wonder what Rukia did here when she was young...' _He thought. _'Had she ever run into any hollows?'_

Before he could really think about it though, Rukia's gaze turned to him; making most of his thoughts vanish for the time being.

She smiled, "You awake."

Byakuya smiled back at her as she made her way over to him before she sat down closely on his right.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked.

Byakuya lifted his hand to stroke Rukia's hair, "Not long."

"Why didn't you say anything? I would of come over here sooner."

"I was just thinking." He replied, watching Rukia lie down next to him.

"Do you know anything about that Tatsuo guy?" She asked suddenly, looking him in the eyes.

Byakuya waited a moment, "I do...Even though it was before my time there's still records of his history lying about." He took a breath before continuing, "He used to be a well known, popular shinigami. He was strong and he was easily making his way through the ranks. He made it all the way up to the fukutaicho level before something happened. From the records it said it all started during one of his group missions but it doesn't go into detail...He ended up killing many un-ranked shinigami from his division and even a taicho...it never specified which one though so I can't really tell you the exact names. He also murdered his wife and daughter and after that and according to the reports Yamamoto-Soutaicho and other strong shinigami tried to kill him but he got away and was never heard from or seen again.....and now that we've found him, we need to bring him down no matter what."

Rukia propped herself up on her side and looked down at Byakuya with a worried expression. "Do you think we can even defeat someone like him?"

"We have to."

"What if you...get hurt again?" Rukia asked worriedly only to have Byakuya move his hand down to caress her cheek.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright." He told her, trying to sooth her, "Let's talk about something else...How did you ever manage to not run into any hollows out here when you were young?"

Rukia paused, "Actually, I did have a few run ins with some hollows"

Byakuya's eyes widened slightly, but before he could say anything she looked up at the sky and continued with her story.

"One time though...I was saved..."

–

_A small, young Rukia, dressed in a slightly tattered black kimono with a sakura petal print, made her way through the forest humming to herself. _

"_Now where could I find some food?...." She asked to no one in particular as she looked around. _

_She smiled happily when she noticed a bush that was growing berries. Quickly, she ran over to the bush and squatted down in front of it. She began examining the berries to make sure they were alright to eat once she started picking them. _

_She stopped suddenly at her sixth berry, her eyes widening in fear when she heard the deafening cry of a hollow. She immediately turned herself around to face it, it was big, towering over her easily, but not the biggest she had ever seen. She backed up against the bush but there was no way of escape. The hollow had her trapped and she could feel it's hot breath on her as it approached. She could tell it had just recently killed something, as the blood slipped through it's teeth at a slow flowing pace. _

_Rukia tried to back away some more as the holllow came closer but the bush was in her way and she couldn't move any further. She screamed and shut her eyes tightly when the hollow jumped at her, she waited for the painful feeling of it's teeth sinking into her flesh, she waited to meet death but none of it ever came._

_She slowly began to open her eyes but when she saw the scene before her she quickly opened them in surprise and gasped. She saw a young, black haired shinigami facing off against the hollow. He looked to be in his late teenage years and his black hair was pulled up into a ponytail with a red hair string. He scowled when the hollow blocked one of his attacks before he disappeared using shun po and attacked the hollow from behind; quickly disposing of it. _

_Once he had sheathed his zanpakutou his gray eyes locked with Rukia's before he spoke in a rather cold tone, "Go back to the district you came from..."_

_After that, he disappeared in a flash; leaving Rukia in a shocked state at what had just happened before her very eyes. _

–

Rukia turned to look at Byakuya, "I had never gotten the name of that shini-" she was cut off then by herself. Her eyes widening to match Byakuya's surprised expression as the sudden realization hit both of them.

"It was you..." They said in unison.

Byakuya's expression became thoughtful before speaking, "That was only a few months after I had become a shinigami...and it was before I met Hisana, so that's why I didn't think anything of you after I had saved you...It was only a month or so after that when I had met Hisana and by then I had forgotten about you.."

Rukia smiled before leaning over to Byakuya and kissing him lightly on the lips. She kept her face to his once they broke apart and looked at him in the eyes.

"I guess I should be thanking you...because if it weren't for you I wouldn't be here today." She said in a soft tone.

Byakuya smiled before moving to kiss her again, making her giggle slightly.

"I wonder why I didn't recognize you when you adopted me..." Rukia thought out loud. "Nothing much changed about you."

"Like me, you must of momentarily forgotten as well." Byakuya said as he moved his hand to brush some of the stray strands of hair out of Rukia's face.

Rukia smiled before moving to cuddle up closer to him, but making sure not to bother his injury. She rested her head against his chest, letting out a small, content sigh once she was comfortable.

–

The sun began to set a few moments after their last conversation. Rukia slowly began to drift off as Byakuya stared out at the sky. Right when Byakuya was beginning to think Rukia had fallen asleep, she surprised him by suddenly sitting up.

"Oh!" She said as she rose from her lying position.

"What's wrong?" Byakuya asked.

"We haven't eaten yet."

Byakuya smirked at her, trying to suppress a laugh at her sudden actions over such a trivial matter.

Rukia got up and walked over to her bag. She stayed over there until she had mashed another apple up into a cup for Byakuya before turning and making her way back over to him.

"You know you don't have to do that." Byakuya told her once she was back at his side, sitting down beside him.

"I know, but I want to." She replied with a small smile.

After they had eaten Rukia lied down next to Byakuya again and cuddled up to him.

"How is your arm and leg?" Byakuya asked once he knew Rukia was comfortable.

"They're alright."

Byakuya smiled, he was glad she was okay. Though he really wished he could have done something to keep her from getting hurt in the first place. He pulled Rukia closer to him after she had shut her eyes. He looked down at her before shutting his own eyes, letting sleep overtake him.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**Well there's some info about Tatsuo. There will be more though so stay tuned! Sorry I couldn't have this up yesterday, I had a friend over until it got dark. Sorry this chapter is so short as well, I honestly thought this one would be longer but apparently it wasn't.**

**I do know for sure that the next one IS longer, I just looked...so yeah, it will be longer. I'll even give you guys a PREVIEW of the next chapter because this one was so freaking short! I hope it will get you interested. I'm happy a lot of you are enjoying the story. **

**PREVIEW TO CHAPTER 12!!  
**

_Once Rukia was back on her feet she looked around at the surrounding area before smirking. Byakuya's expression became confused but before he could question her she ran off._

"_Rukia!" He called, eyes widening in surprise._

**Not a very long preview but I don't want to give too much away. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter even though it was short. Please review and tell me what you think, I'd really appreciate it~**

**Please, Read and Review!**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!**


	12. Chapter 12

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Twelve~

The morning sun had began to rise as Byakuya slowly awakened. He was unsure as of why but he felt a lot better than he had been feeling recently for some reason. Slowly, he moved himself into a sitting position and was surprised when he had little difficulty doing so. _'I didn't feel any pain...' _

Looking down, he saw that the injury that Tatuso had inflicted on him was mostly gone, as if someone had healed it. He immediately looked down at Rukia to see that she was in a deep sleep._ 'She looks exhausted...'_ He thought. "You must have woken up last night and used all of your power to heal me..." Byakuya said to her sleeping form before brushing some of the stray strands of hair from her face. "Thank you."

Byakuya looked around before attempting to stand. He was a little wobbly at first but he slowly got the hang of it. He stood for a moment before making his way over to his bag. He took out some bandages before making his way back to Rukia. Carefully, he unwrapped the poorly wrapped bandages on her arm and leg that he had previously wrapped. He made sure this time the bandages were wrapped neatly and correctly before he replaced the small bandage which covered the scratch on her cheek.

Once he was sure Rukia's injuries had been properly bandaged he moved to rest his back against the smooth rock wall of the mountain's overlapping area. After situating himself comfortably he carefully pulled Rukia to him so that her head was resting on his lap. As a response, Rukia's arms moved to wrap around his waist as she snuggled her face into his side which made him smile. He then proceeded to softly stroke her hair as he watched her sleep.

He could still hardly believe that Rukia had been the child that he saved from that hollow all those years ago. When he thought back about it and noticed how Rukia hadn't really changed that much, just getting taller and more mature, he couldn't help but admire her beauty. Even though she had exhausted herself healing him, to him she still looked more than breathtaking.

Byakuya wanted to go out and hunt down Tatsuo, but he knew that that would be a foolish move. The wound he had inflicted on Tatsuo hadn't been as serious as the one he had received. He wasn't at his full strength yet either. Rukia may have healed his wound, but he knew it would still be a little while before he could fight again; especially against someone like Tatsuo. There was also no telling if Tatsuo wouldn't come after them if they went out to train. _'If Rukia and I were to spar Tatsuo could surely be able to sense us some how and possibly come after us...'_

He didn't want to risk Rukia's safety like that and he wasn't going to. He wouldn't put her in danger like that, it almost pained him to think about it.

–

Slowly, Rukia began to wake up. Byakuya felt her move as she sat up and tiredly shifted her gaze up at him, in which she saw him smiling down at her.

She smiled, "You're up."

Byakuya gave a small nod. "Thanks to you." Her smile slightly grew at that statement, "I wish you wouldn't of exhausted yourself though." He added.

"I'm sorry." Rukia said, looking down slightly.

Byakuya pulled her close; to where she was now sitting in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, resting one across her lap while the other gripped her waist. It was then that Rukia took notice of the new bandages that covered her injuries.

"Did you change my bandages?" Rukia asked, looking up at him.

"I did." Byakuya said after giving a nod.

"Thank you." Rukia said smiling.

He shook his head, "It wasn't a problem."

Rukia snuggled up closer to him, "What are we going to do?"

"I'm not sure. I was actually thinking about that before you had woken up."

"Oh." She paused, "We could take a walk or something..."

Byakuya looked down at her and gave a small smile, "We could do that....but we'll need to be careful."

"Okay." Rukia said with a nod before moving to stand, but before she could Byakuya hooked one of his arms under her knees while the other supported her back as he picked her up as he stood. Rukia wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself before he started walking.

–

Byakuya was still carrying Rukia as they took their walk through the forest. They had only been walking for about seven minutes since they had left their campsite.

"This isn't much of a walk if I'm not really walking." Rukia said with a small laugh.

Byakuya smiled, "I'll put you down in a minute, I enjoy carrying you."

Byakuya looked around at their surroundings as he walked and after a few more minutes had gone by he placed Rukia back on her feet for her to walk beside him. Once Rukia was back on her feet she looked around at the surrounding area before smirking. Byakuya's expression became confused but before he could question her she ran off.

"Rukia!" He called, eyes widening in surprise before he ran after her.

He was about to see if he had enough strength to use shun po to catch her but before he could he felt a cold splash a water hit his face, bringing him to a halt. He shook his head and looked ahead of him to see Rukia laughing and then he took notice of the rather large lake behind her.

Rukia walked over to Byakuya and took his hand. "When we were walking I suddenly remembered that there was a lake nearby." She explained as they walked toward the water. "The water is safe to drink. I remember coming here when I was younger when I got thirsty."

"Why did you splash water in my face?" Byakuya asked once they were seated in front of the water's edge, their zanpakutou placed on the ground beside them.

Rukia gave another small laugh, "Just a little prank."

She then ran her hand through her hair but frowned.

"What's wrong?" Byakuya asked.

"My hair probably looks horrible."

Byakuya couldn't help but give a small chuckle. "Probably isn't as bad as mine is now."

"We could both go for some cleaning up I guess." Rukia said with a smile. "Since we've been out here for so long."

Byakuya looked at her for a moment before looking out at the lake; an idea suddenly forming in his mind. Rukia looked at him and noticed his thoughtful expression. _'Wonder what he's thinking about...'_

"Byaku-Ah!" Before she could finish saying his name Byakuya had quickly took Rukia into his arms and tossed her into the water, causing her to yelp in surprise.

When Rukia lifted her head out of the water she saw that Byakuya was already in the water with her, a grin on his face as he came toward her.

Once he was over to her she lightly slapped him on the chest. "What did you do that for?" She asked with mock anger.

Byakuya smirked, "You said we were filthy."

"Yeah, but I don't have any spare clothes to put on. I forgot to bring some."

"I did though. You can borrow one of mine even though it will be a bit big on you." He said, his smirk turing into a smile at the blush that suddenly appeared on her face. Before Rukia could say anything in reply, Byakuya wrapped his arm around Rukia's waist before wading farther into the water.

He kissed her softly on her lips before he felt Rukia wrap her arms around his neck to nuzzle his face. She let out a small giggle when Byakuya began to kiss her neck. He trailed down to her collarbone before moving back to her face, kissing the side of her face before nibbling her ear; which he noticed caused her to tighten her hold on him. Rukia gripped him even tighter when she felt him run his tongue up from her collarbone to the top of her neck before nuzzling her face and giving her a smile.

Rukia looked around them for a moment before she uncontrollably shivered.

"We should head back now." Byakuya said, noticing when she shivered.

Rukia looked up at him and nodded before she felt Byakuya swim her back to shore. Once out of the water Byakuya lightly shook the water out of his hair before walking closer to Rukia. "Once we get into some dry clothes we'll eat."

"Okay." Rukia replied with a small smile.

Rukia was surprised when Byakuya squatted down in front of her. He looked at her confused expression with an amused smirk. "Climb on my back."

Rukia's eyes widened for a moment before she nervously gave a nod, "Okay..." She then slowly situated herself on his back.

He stood when he knew Rukia was on his back and had her arms wrapped securely around his neck. He turned his head toward her and smiled before he started walking. He couldn't help but grin slightly when Rukia snuggled her face in his shoulder to rest.

"I'm really happy how things turned out." Rukia said, her words slightly muffled by his wet shihakusho. "I'm glad things turned out great between us...and how we've been able to spend so much time together."

Byakuya couldn't help but let a warm smile spread across his face, "I'm glad too. I honestly haven't felt this happy for a long...long time."

As a reply, he felt Rukia smile against him.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**Sorry this chapter is kinda late. I just have been busy working on the sequel and stuff. I also just got done with my End of Course tests and now I only have to worry about finals. I've also been getting pretty sick but I haven't let that stop me from doing too much. I just haven't been feeling as well as I usually feel. **

**I'm glad people enjoy this story, it really makes me feel a lot better about my writings and stuff. So I'll TRY as hard as I can to have the next chapter out on time, but because of how I've been feeling lately I'm unsure if I can make that a solid promise. **

**Please, Read and Review!**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!**


	13. Chapter 13

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Thirteen~

Now back at the campsite, Rukia sat on their stone bed dressed in the top part of one of Byakuya's spare shihakusho's. The top was long enough to reach down to mid-thigh, much like the length that Nemu Kurotsuchi's shihakusho was. The sleeves were long on her though and the fabric covering her shoulders often slipped down and exposed her shoulders, causing her to occasionally cover them again. She had had to remove the bandages on her person since they had been soaked back at the lake. She didn't bother putting her sandals or socks back on at the time being seeing as how they weren't really going to be going anywhere for the rest of the day.

Byakuya had gone to catch some fish for them to eat while she changed and Rukia now awaited his return. She looked up towards the sky before turning her gaze to the small fire Byakuya had made before he left and gave a small smile, she was happy that today had been a good day; she enjoyed that she and Byakuya were able to spend so much time together on this mission. Just when Rukia was about to go check to see if she could sense Byakuya to see if he was on his way back she saw him come in.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw Rukia, unable to stop his eyes from wondering to her smooth, bare legs. Rukia smiled at him, happy to see him back safely; which then Byakuya broke out of his little trance and smiled back at her before walking over to the fire so he could start cleaning out the fish.

"Want any help?" Rukia asked.

Byakuya looked at her and smiled, "It's fine. You cooked the last time so its the least I can do."

Rukia nodded, "Okay." She replied before bringing her knees to her chest and crossing her legs. Byakuya was actually having a hard time to not look. He needed to focus on the cooking.

After a bit, Byakuya finished cooking. He made sure that it had been cooked just right before handing one of the fish, that he had placed conveniently on a stick, to Rukia and moved to sit next to her.

"It's really good." Rukia complemented with a smile after taking a few bites.

"I'm glad, I was worried you wouldn't like it."

Rukia smiled again before resting her head on Byakuya's shoulder. Byakuya looked up at the afternoon sky before shifting his gaze to Rukia and smiled.

"A little tired?"

Rukia gave a small laugh before nodding against him.

Byakuya waited a few moments after they had finished eating before looking down at Rukia again.

"Let me see your arm." He told her in a calm tone.

Rukia looked up at him in question before nodding, "Okay."

Byakuya then proceeded to roll up her sleeve before placing his hand over the wound and preformed a healing spell to finally fully heal that injury. He still wasn't at his full strength yet and couldn't fully heal any other injuries she had but he made sure that they weren't as bad as they were.

Once he had done all that he could Rukia smiled, "Thanks."

Byakuya lent down and rested his forehead against her own, "It wasn't a problem."

Rukia felt the fabric covering her shoulder slip once more but before she could get to it Byakuya stopped her by taking her hand. He leaned down and kissed her bare shoulder before pulling the fabric back up himself. He smiled softly at her when he noticed a small smile of her own appear. It wasn't a moment later when Byakuya moved to sit on the ground in front of her before he took her left foot gently in his hand and lightly kissed above her ankle, making her smile grow. Rukia couldn't stop herself from shivering in delight when she felt him begin to massage her feet, especially when he hit certain spots.

"After this we can view the stars." Byakuya said in the same calm tone he had been using.

Rukia gave a nod, "I would like that."

–

Many miles away from Byakuya and Rukia's camp sight, in a dark, wooded area surrounded by dead, leafless trees sat Tatsuo. He wore an expression of what looked to be sadness as he stared down at the wedding band in his hand. This one was smaller than the one he was wearing himself.

"Haruki..." Tatsuo mumbled as he stared at the ring.

–

"_You're really improving Tatsuo. If I may say you're getting better by the day."Ukitake said with a small laugh as he blocked his third seat's attack. "Every time we spar you've always improved in one way." _

_Tatsuo laughed, "You're too kind, Ukitake-taicho." _

"_I'm really glad this is one of my healthier days, It's always refreshing to spar with you Tatsuo. You'll rise in the ranks if you get any stronger." _

_Tatsuo blocked Ukitake's blade, "Please, I'm still far from reaching a promotion." _

"_Don't be so hard on yourself, I usually don't tell squad members when they improve but you're doing really well for yourself."_

_After exchanging a few more blows Ukitake sheathed his sword. "Good job, that's enough for the day." _

_Tatsuo gave a nod before he and Ukitake sat down on the wooden porch outside of the Division._

_"Though, I won't take it back because you really are showing promise." Ukitake said, looking up at the sky._

"_Thank you, Ukitake-taicho."_

_Ukitake smiled before looking at Tatsuo, "So how's your wife doing?"_

"_She's doing just fine," Tatsuo said with a soft smile as he thought of his wife, "the baby should be here any day now." _

"_That's great news." Ukitake replied happily. "I wish you both happiness." _

_Tatsuo grinned, "Thanks." He then stood up. "I should get back to her now, she's expecting me to be back soon." _

"_Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."_

_Tatsuo gave a nod, "I'll see you then." _

–

_Tatsuo was a member of one of the lesser noble families, they weren't as famous as the four great noble houses but he didn't mind, he just wanted to give his wife and him a good life and he wanted to do the same for their child. He appeared at the door of his home and went inside._

"_Haruki, I'm home!" He called. _

"_I'm in the bedroom!" A feminine voice called back._

_Tatsuo smiled before he began towards the bedroom._

_He entered the room to see his wife, Haruki, sitting next to the window, reading a book. She had dark blond hair and eyes that were a beautiful shade of green. She wore a pink kimono with a pattern of birds on it. Tatsuo smiled and approached her, squatting down next to her to rest his chin on her knee. _

"_Welcome home." She greeted, giving him a smile as well._

"_I'm glad to be home." He replied before placing his hand on her rounded stomach. He then stood slightly to kiss her._

"_Ukitake-taicho complemented me on my skills again." _

"_That's wonderful." Haruki said happily._

"_I don't want to jinx it but I think I may be promoted soon." He informed her._

"_That's wonderful news!" She exclaimed happily. _

"_How have you been feeling lately?" _

"_I feel fine. Though I can't wait to have this baby out of me." She replied with a laugh._

_Tatsuo laughed too before leaning in to kiss her again._

–

Tatsuo moved himself to sit back against one of the dead trees and leaned his head down to the ring in his hands. His frown deepening as he shut his eyes.

"Haruki...." He muttered one last time. "....Eri."

–

"_Otou-san's home!" A little girl exclaimed as Tatsuo walked through the entrance of their estate. _

_Tatsuo looked at his daughter, Eri, as she ran towards him, she resembled her mother greatly. She had the dark blond hair and same face. Her eyes though, were the same as Tatsuo's. When she reached him he leaned down for her to hug him._

"_I missed you lots." Eri said as Tatsuo lifted her into his arms._

"_I missed you too." He replied with a smile before kissing her on the forehead. "Where's your Okaa-san?" _

_Eri pointed towards their home, "She's inside." She said before Tatsuo smiled and began walking inside, Eri still in his arms. _

_He found his wife sitting in the family room with one of her books in hand. He put Eri back on the ground, but she didn't leave; instead she just crawled up into one of the chairs in the room and watched her parents. Tatsuo wrapped his arms around Haruki when she stood and kissed her softly. _

"_How has your day been?" She asked with a soft smile._

_Tatsuo smiled back, "Even though I've been the Fukutaicho for over three years now it's still a little tough. We got some new members today, both new recruits and transfers. One in particular, Kaien Shiba, is probably the best out of the bunch." _

"_That's great. It's good your new division members are working hard." _

_Tatsuo gave a nod, "It is."_

"_Otou-san can we go outside and play?" Eri asked with a smile._

_Tatsuo gave a chuckle and looked at Eri, "I don't see why not." _

"_Yay!" She exclaimed before climbing down from the chair. "I'll race you there!" She said before running out of the room._

_Tatsuo couldn't help but grin. _

_Haruki smiled, "Our little Eri is growing up so fast."_

_Tatsuo nodded, "Indeed she is."_

_Haruki then playfully slapped her husband on the chest, "You should get out there before she comes back looking for you." Tatsuo laughed lightly at that before kissing her once more. _

_He looked back at her before walking out of the room to meet Eri outside._

–

_Eri laughed as she and her father played 'Catch the Hollow' which was very much equivalent to tag._

"_You're the hollow, Otou-san!" Eri exclaimed happily. _

_Tatsuo laughed, "Then you better watch out because when this hollow catches his prey he..." He then quickly moved and caught Eri in his arms and she squealed happily, "...tickles them!" He then proceeded to do just that. Eri laughed before jumping up and hugging her father. _

"_I love you, Otou-san! You're the best Otou-san in the world!" _

–

Tatsuo looked up at the darkened sky as he felt the rain pouring down on him. He had been so lost in though he hadn't realized it had began to storm. He held his sad expression as the thunder chimed. He stood slowly, not caring that he was getting soaked as he slowly made his way to some shelter.

–

Byakuya and Rukia sat backed up against the overlapped wall of the mountain to avoid the pouring rain. The thunder boomed occasionally which Byakuya wished would stop and he knew Rukia felt the same way. Rukia sat in between his legs and had her face hidden in Byakuya's robesand her arms wrapped securely around his torso as he held her close. He remembered her fear of thunder and he was trying to do everything he could to comfort her. He held her close, stroked her hair and soothed her with his words.

He pulled the blanket over Rukia some more as he attempted to keep her as calm as possible. He could tell she was trying to stay calm as well and she was trying as hard as she could but it wasn't helping her that much though. He kissed the top of her head before tightening his hold on her. He hated seeing her like this, he felt helpless because he was unable to keep her from being scared. He was at least thankful though that he was able to ease some of fright.

"Everything will be alright." He told her soothingly.

"I'm sorry for acting like this..." She said, her words muffled by Byakuya's shihakusho.

"It's okay, you can't help it." He replied in the same soothing tone as he stroked her hair and showered her in soft kisses. His other hand rubbed the bare part of her thigh soothingly before repeating his words,

"It's going to be alright."

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**Let's just crack right down to it:**

**EXCUSES - **

**NUMBER ONE – Final Exams**

**NUMBER TWO – End of school work**

**NUMBER THREE – Being sick SUCKS D:**

**NUMBER FOUR – Before I was sick I had a friend over.**

**NUMBER FIVE – I'm not going to lie....I was also re-watching the ENTIRE Yu-Gi-Oh! Series (Not GX and 5D's though Dx) and then re-read the manga.....AT LEAST I'M BEING HONEST. xD**

**And that's it....I seriously felt REALLY bad for not updating. I wanted to but those stupid exams kept me working (mainly the math) and I wasn't able to get anything (anything that wasn't school related) done. Thank goodness school is OVER for me now until August. I've been stressing over getting this up ever since I missed the first week...and I still feel bad that it took me so long just to get it up today. **

**I really really REALLY hope you guys can forgive me and I really hope this chapter was to your liking. I wanted to put Tatsuo in the thirteenth division for some reason. I'm unsure as of why. He joined before Kaien was a member and I kept it blank if Kaien was new or a transfer because I remember in the 3rd Phantom DS game they put Kaien in the fifth division first so I didn't want to go against the game even though some may not agree with it's storyline. So I'll leave it to you to say whether he's new or a transfer. Let your imaginations SOAR....Okay that was cheesy.....**

**Btw, here are the meanings of Eri and Haruki's names:**

**Haruki (****春樹****) _(meaning: Springtime Tree)_**

**Eri(****絵理****)_(meaning: blessed prize)_**

**Okay, like I promised here's the PREVIEW for Chapter fourteen.**

_Rukia buried her face into his shoulder. "Just thinking about that moment scares me...I don't like talking about it..." She didn't, but she knew Byakuya was just worried about her and only concerned so that was why she had decided to tell him._

_She gave a small, nervous laugh, "That's another thing I've never told anyone." She said, clutching his shihakusho tighter. _

_Byakuya kissed the top of her head, "I'm glad you're sharing these private memories with me. It shows that you have a lot of trust in me." He said with a smile. "Having fears are alright, everyone has some kind of fear. It's perfectly normal, Rukia." _

"_Then...what's your fear?" She asked, looking up at him._

_END PREVIEW_

**I hope you guys enjoyed the little preview and the chapter in general. **

**Please, READ and REVIEW.**

**Just remember, NO FLAMING!**


	14. Chapter 14

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Fourteen~

It stormed throughout the night and Byakuya had been awakened by the sound of lightning. He looked down at Rukia, who to his relief was still sleeping peacefully in his tight embrace. It was then that he had noticed he had fallen asleep sitting up and Rukia was still in his lap, holding him close. He brushed some of the hair out of her face before placing a kiss on the top of her head. He couldn't help but continue to wonder what exactly had caused her fear of thunder. He hadn't even known about it until only a few days ago, but through the years he had picked up that something was different about her whenever it did storm.

He looked up at the sky once more, the rain seemingly beginning to stop pouring, and hugged Rukia close to him while she slept before gently laying her and himself down. He pulled her close and buried his face in her hair and shut his eyes, allowing sleep to overtake him once more.

–

Slowly, Rukia began to awaken as the morning sun shined brightly in the sky. She woke to find herself closely pressed up against Byakuya, then she took notice that his leg was intertwined with her bare one. She felt his arms around her and his breath on her chest. She smiled, she was really thankful he had helped her get through another storm.

She let out a quiet, happy sigh. She knew she loved him, wholeheartedly. She was just afraid to be the first to say it. She moved her hand to run it through Byakuya's hair as he slept. Rukia could feel the fabric on her shoulders had slipped down during the night but she couldn't really move to push it back up, seeing as how Byakuya's head was partly lying on it, under his chin, while the rest of his head rested on her bare skin.

_'I wish I would have thought about bringing my own spare shikakusho...'_ she began to think, though on the inside; she was sort of happy she hadn't. Secretly, she had become very fond of Byakuya's sakura-like scent that she now wore as well.

Moments passed and Rukia watched some birds fly by before she began to doze off, but she was quickly awake once more when she felt Byakuya begin to stir. He moved so that he now hovered over Rukia, who stared up at him with a warm smile.

"Good morning." He told her as he smiled back.

"Morning to you too." She replied back, her tone clam yet still a little sleepy.

He leaned down and kissed her and she happily responded to by returning the kiss; smiling against his lips as she did. She felt his tongue lick at her lips, asking for entry in which she gladly obliged to. She let his tongue explore her mouth and was unable to hold back a small, pleasured squeak when she felt his tongue run along the roof of her mouth before intertwining with her own tongue. One of his hand moved to run his fingers through her hair.

They parted moments later, slightly gasping for air as they struggled to catch their breath. Byakuya leaned down to rest his forehead against Rukia's before smiling at her again. She returned his smile and moments later she moved her arms to wrap around his neck before pulling him down for another intoxicating kiss.

Byakuya nuzzled Rukia after they broke apart for the second time before wrapping his arm around Rukia's waist and turning over so that she was lying directly on top of him. Rukia gave a smile before sitting up as to where she was now straddling him and her smile grew slightly when she felt Byakuya's hand hook in the crook of her knee to hold her in place.

"How long have you been awake?" Byakuya asked.

"No long." She responded, "I was up for only a few minutes before you woke up."

Byakuya gave a nod before asking, "If you don't mind telling me, what exactly caused this thunder phobia of yours?"

Rukia frowned slightly and shifted her gaze down, "I don't mind..." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Not many people would really understand how I feel about it...They would probably just think I was stupid or something after hearing my reason..."

"Rukia's it's alright, your reason is your reason. There's no reason to feel ashamed because of it. You can't help it." Byakuya told her, trying to ease her mind.

Rukia looked up at him suddenly before waiting a short moment before she continued, "Well...back then, I was always alone and usually the best places I could find for shelter were old, broken down cabins...and when the thunder boomed and stuff it always made the place shake and on a couple of occasions the windows sometimes even shattered everywhere when the storm was bad enough. The sheer power of those storms always scared me and soon I didn't even both to find shelter because I was scared the windows, that were sometimes already on the verge of breaking, would shatter and hurt me." She explained, "The noise and the way the place always seemed to shake always frightened me. I was really young when I had experience my first thunderstorm and I didn't understand some things back then so now whenever a storm hits I can't help but remember those moments back then to when I was unable to really help myself in those situations. I guess some would say I was left with some kind of irreversible psychological trauma or something."

Without a word Byakuya sat up and pulled Rukia close to him in a loving embrace. He stroked her hair as she clutched onto the front of his shihakusho and buried her face into his shoulder.

"Just thinking about that moment scares me...I don't like talking about it..." She didn't, but she knew Byakuya was just worried about her and only concerned so that was why she had decided to tell him.

She gave a small, nervous laugh, "That's another thing I've never told anyone." She said, clutching his shihakusho tighter.

Byakuya kissed the top of her head, "I'm glad you're sharing these private memories with me. It shows that you have a lot of trust in me." He said with a smile. "Having fears are alright, everyone has some kind of fear. It's perfectly normal, Rukia."

"Then...what's your fear?" She asked, looking up at him.

As soon as she had asked she felt Byakuya's grip on her tighten. She looked up at him questioningly to see he was looking off to the side.

"My one fear, Rukia..." He started to say, "The one I know I'll never get over no many how many years pass...is losing you."

Rukia's eyes widened, at first she couldn't believe him but when she looked him directly in the eyes she knew he meant it.

"That fear was developed during your execution. I felt helpless during that time and in the end, when Gin Ichimaru's blade was about to pierce you through I could of sworn my heart stopped. Then when I went to Hueco Mundo and found you near death...I can't even describe the fear and pain I felt. When that Espada had forced you to bring the blade of your sword to your throat I felt like I would die, I had never been as scared as I was then in all the years I've been alive." He explained, keeping a slight downcast gaze. "That's why after that I became even more protective of you. Rukia, you're my pride and I'll do anything to protect you."

Rukia could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She never knew Byakuya's feelings for her were so deep, but she knew he was telling her nothing but the truth. He would never reveal these kinds of thoughts and feelings with just anyone and she knew that. When she heard him call her his pride it shocked her,_ 'I never knew I meant that much to him...'_

She wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace, which in response she felt his embrace on her tighten.

"I love you, Rukia...and I just don't want to lose you." He said after leaning back to look her in the eyes.

Rukia's eyes widened again before she smiled, a tear finally falling down her cheek, "I love you too, Byakuya."

Byakuya smiled before pulling her in for a third kiss.

–

The morning soon changed into the afternoon as time went by. The birds were out flying and the sun glimmered brightly. A perfect day as some would say, especially after just having a bad storm.

Byakuya and Rukia sat on the ledge of the mountain, just passing time and enjoying every moment with each other that passed. Rukia, who sat to Byakuya's left and was resting her head on his chest, breathed a sigh of contentment. She had her arms wrapped around his own arm. After a few moments though she frowned and clutched his arm tighter.

"What's wrong?" He asked, noticing Rukia's sudden change in mood.

"Nothing it's just...we're going to have to go after Tatsuo soon, aren't we?" She replied in a saddened tone.

Byakuya moved his free hand to rest on her thigh in attempt to comfort her. "We will, but I'm sure things will be alright."

Her frown didn't falter though as she looked up at him, "You got hurt last time...What if it happens again or what if...what if..." She couldn't finish, she didn't want to finish her retort. Instead she just buried her face in his shihakusho, trying to hide her quickly forming tears. _'Damn it...I'm pathetic.' _

Byakuya's hand began to slowly move against her thigh in a comforting motion; understanding what she was trying to get out. "Everything will be alright...I'll make sure nothing too bad will happen to me."

–

Hours passed and Byakuya watched the sky turn from blue to orange as the sun began to set. He looked down at Rukia who was mindlessly playing with his hand.

"We'll need to eat soon." Byakuya said calmly.

Rukia looked up at him and nodded before he stood and offered her his hand to help her up. She took it without a word and he brought her to her feet. He led her back to their 'bed' before moving over to the remainder of their apple supply and taking the last two they had. He walked back over to her and sat down before handing her one of the apples.

"I wonder if anyone back in the Seireitei is worried about us..." Rukia wondered aloud after taking a bite.

"There may be a few, even though it was predicted that this mission had the possibility of lasting over the original eight days."

Rukia nodded in agreement before taking another bite of her apple.

Byakuya looked out at the sunset, he felt like tonight would be a peaceful one. One with a clear night sky and bright stars. The moon should also be full as well, which would make the night seem even better.

"We should sleep soon." Byakuya said after hearing Rukia try to repress a yawn.

Rukia nodded, "Okay."

They lied down next to one another shortly after that and Byakuya pulled Rukia to him in a secure embrace before Rukia wrapped her own arms around his waist.

"Goodnight." He said before kissing the top of her head.

She smiled against him and echoed his words back at him before shutting her eyes and shortly after falling asleep.

Byakuya stayed up though, thinking about what he was going to do about Tatsuo. He didn't want to risk Rukia's safety, which made him think about sneaking away one night son to hunt Tatsuo down and kill him; but he knew in the depths of his mind that if Rukia were to find him gone she'd certainly go looking for him. There was also the possibility that something could happen to her, like a hollow attack could happen while he was gone...or even worse, Tatsuo would find her. He didn't want anything to happen to her for he knew if something did happen he would lose himself. He knew he would have to take Rukia with him when he went looking for Tatsuo, there were just too many risks if he left her alone.

He shook his head slightly, trying to rid himself of those thoughts. He needed rest too and he knew it. He tightened his embrace on Rukia before burying his face in her hair and moments later finally falling asleep.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**Sorry this is late. I recently got back from my trip to Washington DC. It was pretty fun, though my feet and legs were killing me for days even after the trip. So much walking and stuff. XD**

**I'll try to have the next chapter out on time next time. Though I can't make that a solid promise but I'll try my hardest. I don't have anything planned so I should have it out on time. I really hope you all enjoyed this little chapter. I did have some other reason for Rukia's fear of thunder but later on I realized, "Oh wait...that would cause a fear of animals...not thunder." I had a small laugh at that and quickly scratched it out. **

**Well it's passed midnight now for me and I'm getting pretty tired. So I'll see you guys next update~!  
**

**Please, Read and Review!**

**Just remember, NO FLAMING!**


	15. Chapter 15

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Fifteen~

"What are you smiling about?" Byakuya asked with a small grin as he watched Rukia, who was indeed smiling, in her sleep.

Awakened by his voice, Rukia slowly opened her eyes to look at him. She blushed nervously when she realized she was smiling and nervously replied, "Nothing important."

Byakuya smirked, "If it's nothing then why are you blushing?"

"Um...well..." She stuttered before attempting to get up and move away but soon found it impossible when she saw Byakuya had his arm wrapped securely around her waist, preventing her from getting anywhere.

Once she noticed this she felt Byakuya pull her back against his chest before making his embrace on her more secure. Her blush only became more noticeable when Byakuya began to lightly trail kisses from her ear to her collarbone. She shivered in delight when she felt his tongue lick her neck with every kiss.

"So, what was your dream about?" He asked between kisses.

Rukia shook her head, showing Byakuya that she wasn't going to answer, but that only made him smirk again. Rukia's blush was evident on her face as she went through her thoughts as Byakuya kissed her. She swore to herself she was probably redder than Renji's hair, but there was _no way _she could tell Byakuya about her dream, _'I can't tell him, I won't. How could I even dream of something like that...Usually it's just Byakuya and me kissing, but we were doing..._much _more than just kissing...' _Rukia thought, and she knew if it were possible she was probably blushing even more.

Before Byakuya could ask her again a roar of a hollow interrupted their moment right after he had marked Rukia's neck. They looked up in alarm in the direction the roar was heard. Byakuya moved his hand from Rukia's hip to sit up and stand before taking his zanpakutou from where it was resting near them. Rukia sat up and quickly put on her sandals and grabbing her own zanpakutou before standing as Byakuya walked over to he and pushed the fabric covering her shoulder up once again.

–

"There's a Menos Grande, I can sense it. There's probably a few smaller hollows there as well, so be careful." Byakuya said as he and Rukia made their way towards the hollow's location.

Rukia nodded, "I will, you be careful too though."

Byakuya looked bad at her and gave a small smile before nodding once as a reply.

_'I wish I would've had time to change before we left...'_ Rukia thought as the hollows came into view.

There were seven regular looking hollows, all equally ugly in Rukia's opinion, and the one Menos Grande that Byakuya had mentioned. Rukia immediately disposed of one of the hollows while Byakuya quickly took out three with Senbonzakura's shikai before he moved on to the Menos, trusting that Rukia could take care of the other hollows.

As she fought, Rukia couldn't help but feel relieved that there was only one Menos Grande to deal with, she could tell Byakuya hadn't really returned to his full strength yet because of all the time he had spent recovering from his injuries, even it it was only a few days. She knew Byakuya regularly spent time training himself each and every day when he had time to himself and those few days of being injured and not being able to do anything but lie down _did _make a difference.

One of the hollows let out an angry roar as it jumped to attack Rukia from behind while her guard was down. Rukia noticed it at the last second and moved out of the way of it's attack, but before she could get completely away she felt it's claws slash her inner thigh. She cringed in pain for a moment and she could feel the blood running down her leg, but she wasn't going to give up so easily.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia exclaimed as the hollows approached, "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"

The hollows, now completely frozen, were dead. Rukia gave a small sigh and sheathed her zannpakutou before wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. She looked over to see the Menos was gone too before she noticed Byakuya appear at her side.

"Are you alri-" Byakuya stopped when he saw the blood on her leg.

Without a word he carefully lifted Rukia into his arms before using shun po to quickly return to their campsite.

–

Byakuya placed Rukia on the edge of their blanketed rock before kneeling in front of her.

"I'm going to heal your wound, Rukia." Byakuya said after noticing Rukia's nervous expression. "I brought you back here instead of sitting you down and healing you on the spot because there's always the chance Tatsuo would have appeared."

After a moment Rukia gave Byakuya a slow nod to let him know she understood and that he could proceed.

Byakuya got up and walked over to Rukia's bag and to the small pond of water before coming back to her, with a couple of rags in hand, to take another look at her wound. He then began wiping the wound clean with one of the rags while Rukia watched. She knew this was no time to be embarrassed but she couldn't help herself from blushing slightly. When she felt his palm over her wound as he began to heal it she knew her blush had probably brightened and she was relived that he hadn't noticed.

"I'm sorry...I wasn't paying attention when that hollow attacked." Rukia said in an slightly saddened tone.

Byakuya didn't reply, he didn't want to say anything to upset her and he couldn't just say it was alright because it wasn't._ 'Rukia had gotten hurt...'_

When Byakuya was done he leaned up and kissed Rukia softly on the forehead before moved to sit next to her.

"Do you feel any better?" He asked.

"I feel fine." Rukia replied, giving him a small smile.

The two of them then looked out at the sky above them, today had seemed too short for their taste and Rukia had a feeling why.

"We'll search for Tatsuo tomorrow." Byakuya said suddenly, answering Rukia's silent concerns.

She knew they couldn't put it off any longer, they both knew. Tatsuo was a danger to them and the Soul Society and he needed to be disposed of as soon as possible.

Rukia gave a slow nod in reply and Byakuya could clearly see her sad expression. He knew she was worried about him since he would be the one fighting Tatsuo. He wished he could somehow get that off of her mind but he knew he couldn't.

The sky began to darken as they sat there in silence. The small breeze in the air gently blew their hair with ease as time passed.

Byakuya moved moments later as he wrapped his arms around Rukia and brought her back against the back wall of the mountainside, so that they were under the the shelter that the overlapping part of the mountain provided. He her and himself down before pulling her close, and without any further words they stayed that way until they fell asleep; letting the calming presence of one another keep them relaxed and comfortable.

–

Tatsuo walked through the dark, heavily wooded area of the mountain. He had no real destination, he had been walking aimlessly for hours.

"I need to find those shinigami. They're still here..." He muttered quietly to himself, "I need to find them and kill them before they can go back to the Seireitei and report that they saw me."

He looked down at his late wife's wedding ring that he still grasped in his hand. He frowned sadly at the sight of it. It brought back many bad memories but he knew he could never let it go even if he wanted to. It meant too much to him.

He continued walking until he reached a stream. Bending down, he dipped his free hand into the water and brought it to his mouth to drink before standing up again and began walking again. He looked up at the sky that was partly hidden by the trees before looking around, attempting to sense Byakuya and Rukia out.

"They're probably higher up on the mountain..." He muttered when he couldn't sense their reiatsu. "They're probably near that clearing somewhere where I first encountered them."

He then nodded, deciding he would head there to search for them.

"Shinigami..."

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**Sorry this is late, I have no idea why but I've just lost a lot of motivation to get stuff typed up quickly. I've had my notebook that has the story written out open to this chapter for over a week, but I just never found the desire to open a document and begin or continue typing. I really hope you enjoy this chapter and the final chapters to come _(hint hint)_ Yes, this story will soon come to a close. It's been a very nice run and I'm glad so many people enjoyed it. I do hope people will enjoy it's sequel JUST as much or maybe even a little more. **

**! IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ !**

**The sequel to this story though, won't be released immediately after this story ends though, I'm going to take a break after this and start releasing a few oneshots. I already have a couple of ideas. **

**ALSO, if you have any ideas for a Byakuya x Rukia oneshot and would like to see it made, suggest it in a review and I may do it. I may even do all the suggestions I get simply because I do love to write and it will be a nice break from doing a multi-chapter story.**

**So don't be afraid to leave a oneshot suggestion, but remember...it HAS to be either Byakuya x Rukia or Senbonzakura x Sode no Shirayuki related. I would love to write more for both of those pairings seeing as how both fandoms really do need more love. **

**Remember, Read and Review. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!**


	16. Chapter 16

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

* * *

~Chapter Sixteen~

"Did Tatsuo have any other family other than his wife and daughter?" Rukia asked as she and Byakuya made their way through the forest at a slow pace.

"From what I recall from those files, he had a brother. He disappeared though after Tatsuo's rampage. His body was never discovered so they could never confirm his death." Byakuya replied before making his hold on their bags that he carried more secure.

Byakuya and Rukia knew there wouldn't be any going back to their campsite before they left. So Byakuya had packed their belongings up before they had decided to leave.

He looked down at her to see she was staring at the ground as they walked. Byakuya was relieved to hear her voice though, ever since they had left their campsite she hadn't said anything more than 'good morning.' Her recent question had been the first she had spoken since. He moved his hand to grasp hers, in hope that it would give her some sort of comfort.

It was then that he felt it. Tatsuo's reiatsu. It was only for a short moment before it disappeared again, no doubt Tatsuo was masking it. Byakuya could tell though where it was coming from. He stopped in his tracks, causing Rukia to stop to and look up at him in confusion.

"Tatsuo is about less than a mile ahead." Byakuya informed her.

In response he felt her hand clench his tighter.

After a short moment, she looked up at him to see that he looked as if he were in deep thought. Before she could question him though, she felt him clench her hand tighter before turning to face her. Without a word he bent down and kissed her fully on the lips and even in her confusion, Rukia couldn't help but kiss him back.

Once the kiss was over, Byakuya placed his hand on Rukia's cheek to caress it and wipe a small tear that Rukia hadn't even realized had formed.

"Come on out Shinigami...I know you're there!" Tatsuo's voice suddenly rang out in a shout.

They both looked ahead, even though they couldn't see Tatsuo because of all the trees. Byakuya scowled before reluctantly letting go of Rukia to walk ahead, but when she tried to follow he stopped her.

He looked down to see her confused expression with apologetic eyes. He knew what he was about to say would upset her, he just hoped she would understand.

"I think it would be best for the both of us if you stay hidden, Rukia..."

Rukia's confused expression then saddened, but she knew in her heart that Byakuya was right. _'If I'm there, Byakuya would constantly trying to fight and keep an eye on me at the same time...and I'd only get in his way anyway...'_

With that thought, she reluctantly took a few steps back; keeping her gaze downward.

Byakuya could clearly see he was right, that it had hurt her, and he wanted to comfort her but he knew Tatsuo was just ahead and if he didn't go face him soon he may come looking for them. He frowned before he turned and began walking again.

–

Byakuya emerged from the forest and into the clearing from where he and Rukia had had their first kiss, and had met Tatsuo. Byakuya looked ahead to see Tatsuo, who was looking back at him.

"Where's the girl?" Tatsuo asked raising an eyebrow.

"That is none of your concern." Byakuya replied as he drew his zanpakutou.

Tatsuo grinned, "It doesn't matter, I'll hunt her down and kill her after I've killed you."

Tatsuo's grinned only widened slightly when he saw Byakuya's emotionless expression automatically become an angered one at his statement. To Byakuya, threatening Rukia was a death wish.

"That girl must mean a lot to you..."

Byakuya didn't answer, there was no need to. He didn't need to waste his breath on such a man.

Tatsuo frowned at Byakuya's silence. A moment passed before he let out a rough sigh, knowing Byakuya wasn't going to answer him.

In a flash, Byakuya disappeared. Tatsuo grinned and turned around, expecting Byakuya to reappear behind him but scowled when Byakuya wasn't there. Not even a second later Byakuya reappeared at Tatsuo's side.

"Hadō thirty-one, Shakkahō." Byakuya said in his usual emotionless tone before using shun po to distance himself.

Not having enough time to escape, Tatsuo brought his arms up in front of his face to shield himself from the blast.

Byakuya waited on the smoke and dust to clear but before it did, Tatsuo rushed out of it. His sword drawn as he rushed straight at Byakuya. Byakuya used shun po to easily dodge the attack, but then Tatsuo suddenly reappeared in front of Byakuya before swinging his sword down. Byakuya quickly blocked it with his own zanpakutou. He wasn't expecting Tatsuo to make another quick attack though, and before he could get away he felt Tatsuo's blade cut his left arm.

After using shun po to distance himself once more, Byakuya watched as Tatsuo turned to face him. At that moment Byakuya disappeared again and reappeared directly in front of Tatsuo before swinging his sword down, much like how Tatsuo had just done, but Tatsuo jumped back; causing Byakuya's attack to miss.

"Hadō four, Byakurai!" Tatsuo said, pointing his attack at Byakuya.

Before it hit though Byakuya countered with his own Kidō, "Hadō four, Byakurai."

Both then rushed at each other, their blades clashing multiple times. Soon after, Byakuya moved toward Tatsuo; thrusting his blade at him. Tatsuo moved to the side, dodging Byakuya attack, before bringing his blade down. Byakuya noticed this at the last minute and escaped with shun po. The blade had only nicked his shoulder. Suddenly, Tatsuo appeared from behind Byakuya again, not giving him to to attack. He made a move to punch at Byakuya but missed when Byakuya moved a few steps back before swinging his sword, successfully making a large cut on Tatsuo's chest.

Byakuya was beginning to realize that they were getting nowhere, going back and forth between slashes and Kidō. Neither of them would be defeated by simply doing just that and Byakuya knew it. With that thought, Byakuya disappeared again to distance himself a little more.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Tatsuo's eyes widened, he was unsure of what to expect and so he began swinging his sword at any of the petal-like blades he could get to as they swirled and swiftly moved around him, but he was still cut by over half of the blades; causing him to fall to his knees. He was bleeding in in multiple places and breathing heavily.

He looked at Byakuya, his eyes filled with pure hatred. Byakuya stood still, looking at Tatsuo. He didn't care if he hated him.

"You shouldn't of shown yourself in the beginning and attacked Rukia. If you hadn't, you may have been able to live on. But it's too la-"

"Shut your damn mouth, Shinigami!" Tatsuo interrupted. "You don't understand! No one does!"

–

"_A mission, huh?" Kaien asked, looking up at Tatsuo. _

"_Yeah, Ukitake-taicho assigned us and a few other shinigami in the division to go out on a hollow hunting mission." Tatsuo replied, moving to sit down next to Kaien from where he was sitting down on the porch outside the division. _

"_I see, when do we set out." _

"_In a few hours I guess. Ukitake-taicho said to head out once everyone was ready." _

"_Ah, well I'm ready to go whenever you are sir." Kaien said with a friendly smile._

_Tatsuo smiled back and gave a nod, "Alright, then all we need to do is wait for the others."_

–

"-_Hadō thirty-one, Shakkahō!" cried a shinigami with short, shaggy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes as he attacked one of the many hollows that Tatsuo's group was attempting to kill._

_The hollow let out a painful cry as it fell to the ground and died. _

"_Good job, Daisuke." Kaien said after killing off another hollow. Kaien then looked over to two other shinigami that had just finished off three other hollows. "Hikaru, Kaori, are the two of you doing alright?"_

_The female shinigami, Kaori, looked over to Kaien and gave a nod. "Yes, we're doing fine sir."_

_Hikaru, the male, gave a nod as his own reply._

_It was then that the four of them heard a yell in the distance. _

"_That's Miura-fukutaicho!" Daisuke said in a shocked town._

"_Come on." Kaien instructed before running off towards Tatsuo's location._

–

_Kaien's eyes widened when he saw the scene before him. The other three gasped in shocked. The first thing they saw was their fukutaicho, Tatsuo Miura, yelling madly as he attacked both hollows and the shinigami from the group. They even heard him laughing wildly as he used his zanpakutou to slash and stab at some of the corpses. _

"_Go back to the division, don't say anything until Miura-fukutaicho and I return." Kaien ordered quietly, not wanting Tatsuo to hear him, to the three remaining members of the group. _

"_Y-yes sir." Hikaru replied quietly, in a shocked tone before motioning for the other two to follow him. _

_Once Kaien was sure they were gone he started to decide on how to approach his Fukutaicho. He was unsure of what Tatsuo would do. From the looks of it, Tatsuo wasn't aware of what he was doing. His eyes, though full of rage and insanity, were empty. _

_Kaien gritted his teeth before running a few feet away from Tatsuo, so he wouldn't see him and so he could come up with a plan. _

'What do I do?' _Kaien thought, _'What do I do?...'

_Before he could finish another thought, everything went silent. Kaien looked toward Tatsuo's direction in confusion. After a moment, Kaien began to cautiously make his way towards Tatsuo's location once more. His eyes widened again at what he saw. Tatsuo had fallen on the ground face down, unconscious. _

_Kaien gave a sight in relief that what had just happened moments ago was over. He was sad for the innocent shinigami that Tatsuo had murdered, but he knew he had to take action and get Tatsuo back to the division._

'And I need to tell Ukitake-taicho about this...'

_Tatsuo slowly began to open his eyes as he awoke. He sat up and looked around in a confused haze before realizing he was back at the division. He leaned over and placed his head in his hands. He had a bad headache for some reason, but he was unsure why though. _

_All he could remember were some remarks that were made towards him...and then lots of blood. He remembered feelings of pure anger. Suddenly he remembered that it had been some of the shinigami in his group that had made the quiet remarks as they went through his mind._

"Are you sure we should have come with Miura-Fukutaicho? I hear from a lot of other shinigami that have gone on missions with him, and even some that weren't in our division or have retired from it have had some bad experiences that if someone sets him off he gets really made."

"Really?"

"Yeah...maybe we should have stayed with the other's in Shiba-sama's group."

"How long do you think Miura-Fukutaicho has been like that?"

"I don't know, but you think he might be like this around others...I mean, not just shinigami? You know, like his wife and kid? I heard he gets violent..."

_That had been the final thing he would stand hearing from the whispering shinigami following behind him. He remembered getting extremely angry and then that's when he remembered the blood. _

_Tatsuo sighed, "I need to speak with Ukitake-taicho..."_

_He then got up and made his way towards Ukitake's office. _

–

_Tatsuo walked to Ukitake's office. He noticed the place looked kind of...deserted. Like people were avoiding him. He could sense others near, but he sensed fear in them. He wondered why momentarily, but that's when he heard voices coming from Ukitake's office._

"_I don't know what really happened...We didn't see everything." Daisuke explained to Ukitake while Kaien, Hikaru, and Kaori sat beside him. "The first thing we saw were the bodies of our fallen comrades...and then we...and then we saw Miura-Fukutaicho. Something was off about him though. He was...he was attacking their dead bodies and...and laughing as if he were insane."_

"_I see...is this the first time this has happened?" Ukitake asked. _

"_Well, A lot of us have heard that this has happened before, but they never said that he hurt anyone too badly...just roughed them up while yelling angrily at the-"_

"_You're lying." Tatsuo said in an emotionless tone as he opened the door wider to stand at the entrance. His voice may have been emotionless at that moment, but they all saw a flare of anger in his eyes. _

_Daisuke stood up in fear and took a few steps back. He knew in his mind that it would have been best to just stay still, but the look Tatsuo was giving...It truly was a frightening sight. He gulped silently when Tatsuo approached him, ignoring Ukitake's words to just calm down so they could all talk. _

"_You're lying." Tatsuo said, his voice suddenly full of anger to match his expression._

"_M-Miura-Fukutai-ah!" Daisuke stuttered before Tatsuo grabbed him by the front of his robes. _

"_You're lying..." Tatsuo said again. "You're lying and you know it!" _

"_Please, M-Miura-Fukutaicho...Just listen," Daisuke tried to explain. "We..We don't know the whole story, we need to at least know why you murdered-"_

_Tatsuo punched Daisuke then._

"_Tatsuo!" Ukitake exclaimed at his Fukutaicho's sudden actions._

"_I would NEVER murder anyone. I remember, they had made some remarks revolving around private matters of my own and all I did was throw a few punches-"_

_"N-no..Miura-Fukutaicho...you..you killed them. We saw it with our own eyes. You were...you were laughing like a...like a maniac as you attacked their already dead bodies." Daisuke said as wiped his now bloody nose._

_Tatsuo lost it then, he began punching at Daisuke once more. "Are you calling me crazy!" _

"_N-No, Miur-ah!" Daisuke tried to say but when he looked into Tatsuo's eyes after another punch he froze. His expression showing nothing but fear. _

_Ukitake then stood and moved to attempt to pull Tatsuo away from Daisuke, but Tatsuo moved his arms back roughly, throwing him off of him. Ukitake was unable to steady himself in time and fell to the floor with a thud. _

_Daisuke could see the 'evil' look in Tatsuo's eyes, he knew Tatsuo wasn't himself anymore. He knew this must have been the same look his fellow division members saw when Tatsuo had attacked them as well. "P-please, Miura-Fukutaicho! You're not yourse-oof!" _

_Tatsuo wouldn't allow for anymore talk. He continued the beating until Daisuke was unconscious. He then turned around to see Ukitake, Kaien, Kaori, Hikaru, and many of the other members of the division staring at him in complete shock. Kaien was at Ukitake's side helping him back to his feet. Even in his enraged state of mind he could see fear in most of their eyes._

"_You all believe his lies don't you?" Tatsuo said angrily. "You all think I'm mental or something..."_

_Ukitake's expression turned serious, "You just proved their story, Tatsuo..." _

_Tatsuo's scowl grew._

"_You're not in your right mind-"_

"_Shut up!" Tatsuo interrupted. "Everyone gets angry from time to ti-"_

_"Your 'anger' has gone too far, Tatsuo." Ukitake retorted. "Look at yourself...Look at what you've done...You just hurt a member that was only concerned."_

_Tatsuo glared at them. To him, Ukitake was speaking nonsense. He felt something within him just flare up at the people before him. He felt something within him snap. He felt nothing but uncontrollable fury. He just wanted to kill them all...just wishing for their deaths._

"_Tatsu-" Ukitake began to say, but before he could. Tatsuo disappeared in a flash of shun po._

–

"The next thing I remember was seeing Haruki and Eri's dead bodies lying before him. With other shinigami standing around me...They kill-"

"You're wrong..." Byakuya interrupted. "It was you who killed them...They were trying to stop you."

Tatsuo's eyes widened angrily.

"You're just simply sticking the blame on others because you didn't...and still don't want to face the fact of your own mistakes."

"It was them..." Tatsuo hissed. "I know it! Those damn shinigami kill-"

"This conversation is useless." Byakuya interrupted again. "You'll never realize your mistakes..."

Tatsuo grinned, "Yeah...this conversation _is_ useless." He then gave a huff of breath before his grin widened. "Sho, Ryuu!"

Byakuya's eyes widened. He was unsure of Tatsuo's zanpakutou's shikai abilities. According to records and stories he had heard he knew he had some but they were very rarely seen. Only a few had seen Tatsuo's shikai in action and those that did know never survived Tatsuo's rampage of the Seireitei other than Ukitake. Ukitake didn't speak of it though...as if it were a forbidden topic.

It was then that Byakuya saw Tatsuo's zanpakutou completely disappear...as if it evaporated into thin air. Then Byakuya saw Tatsuo himself disappearing, just like his zanpakutou had done. Byakuya tensed up, now Tatsuo's location was unknown.

Moments later, Byakuya felt something like claws slice his back; causing him to fall to one knee. He looked around and when he looked ahead he saw Tatsuo reappearing and around his right hand looked to be wind. Wind that was swirling rapidly in a certain shape around his hand, making Tatsuo look as if he had claws.

"Bunkaitaiki...Kazekagizumi," Tatsuo said staring at Byakuya. "Bunkaitaiki allows my whole being to slowly vaporize and blend in with the air around us...and Kazekagizumi uses strong winds to condense themselves around my hands and fingers to form an almost invisible, claw-like form." Tatsuo chuckled then. "You're in quite the predicament...aren't you?"

Byakuya glared at Tatsuo, not bothering himself with an answer.

Tatsuo grinned again at seeing Byakuya trying to muffle his pain.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

The petal-like blades began to rush at Tatsuo but before they reached him Tatsuo gave a wave of his right hand and suddenly all the blades were blown away by a powerful rush of wind. Byakuya's eyes widened, he couldn't believe ever single one of his blades had just been blown back as if they were nothing but paper. His eyes then narrowed in anger after hearing Tatsuo snicker.

"You should just give up, Shinigami." Tatsuo said, scratching the back of his head with his left hand. "Because now...I have the advantage."

Byakuya slowly tried standing, almost falling back down to his knees again but he caught himself. The slashes Tatsuo had made were deep, but not deep enough to have permanent damage. Once Senbonzakura had reformed into a blade he pointed it to the ground. He had no other choice if he wanted to defeat Tatsuo. Seeing the confusion in Tatsuo's eyes he let go of his sword and let it disappear into the ground.

Tatsuo raised an eyebrow at his actions.

"Bankai." Byakuya muttered quietly, "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Blades then came up from the ground. Tatsuo stared at them with a blank expression out of the corner of his eyes. The huge blades then shattered apart with Byakuya's command and became the small petal-like blades that Tatsuo was familiar with. They all then suddenly came out at and rushed at Tatsuo, but he just summoned more powerful winds, blowing away most of them before using Bunkaitaiki again and disappeared.

Tatsuo appeared again in the sky before he waved his arm again. Byakuya felt very powerful winds swipe past him. He felt them gaining power. He had to cover his face with his arms. It was then when he felt the wind cutting and slashing at him. He felt the winds cut his skin, making him grit his teeth in pain. He couldn't believe this was only Tatsuo's shikai, but he was grateful that Tatsuo didn't have a bankai.

Tatsuo landed and called off the powerful winds. "Ryuukokyuu." Tatsuo said, naming the ability of the winds that he was summoned to cause numerous cuts to appear on Byakuya's body. He looked as if he were bleeding from everywhere. "With Ryuukokyuu, I can summon extremely fast and powerful winds that can cut my targets like a sword would."

Byakuya was breathing heavily. He was in extreme pain and he was exhausted. He could see Tatsuo looked tired as well despite the way he was acting. He had still taken the full attack of Senbonzakura's shikai and most of it's bankai. He could see Tatsuo was in the same condition he was in, breathing and bleeding rather heavily.

Tatsuo began to slowly approach Byakuya. He lifted his hand and Byakuya's arms were suddenly forced to his sides and forced from his slightly hunched over position into a straight one. Byakuya could only describe it as if he were being held in the constricting grasp of a large snake. He felt as if his body was being strangled.

Tatsuo now stood before him. "This is my final technique...I only use it on rare occasions. It's known as Kazerokku...once I raise my hand the winds slowly begin to envelope my target before tightening in a coil-like form around them. The only way to stop this is to kill me unless I call it off myself."

Byakuya glared at him.

"If we wait long enough...your lungs will be crushed and you'd die, but I don't want to wait though."

Byakuya could see Tatsuo forming those claws again around his hand.

"Now." Tatsuo said, raising his clawed hand in the air above Byakuya's head. "Farewell, Shinigami."

He then brought his hand down roughly, but stopped not even an inch above Byakuya's head. Tatsuo's eyes were wide, he felt something pierce him. He looked at Byakuya, who wore a shocked expression before looking down, his eyes widening even more at what he saw.

Looking up at him with a look of pure hatred was Rukia, her zanpakutou now pierced straight through Tatsuo's heart. He seethed when Rukia roughly and sharply turned her sword within him before pulling it out.

"Tsugi no mai...Hakuren." Rukia said, her voice filled with venom.

Before Tatsuo was able to hit the ground, Sode no Shirayuki's second dance enveloped him in his icy grave. She knew Tatsuo wouldn't have survived the piercing to his heart, but she wanted him to suffer, she wanted to be sure he died. The moment Tatsuo was frozen, Byakuya felt the winds coiling restraints leave him as he fell to the ground, his breathing was rough as he tried to catch his breath.

Rukia then turned and leaned down next to him.

"You're...going to be alright...right?" He heard her ask worriedly, he could tell she was crying. He could hear the tears in her voice. "You're...You're bleeding so much..." He could tell she was scared, but he couldn't reply to her question.

"Rukia..."

Everything went black.

_To be continued...

* * *

_

**I have a reason this one took so long. That whole flashback you all read...It was completely different before. The original seemed stupid to me so I rewrote the whole thing. This one seems better, so I really hope you enjoyed it. **

**Oh and I hoped you enjoyed how I ended the battle with Tatsuo. Ever since I got this written a few months back I liked how I did it. I wanted to have a moment where Rukia was the one to save Byakuya. God I would LOVE to see something like that actually happen, I would be fangirling for months x3  
**

**Also:**

_**Miura - meaning "three bays" (**__**三浦**__**)**_

**Yeah, I finally decided to give Tatsuo a last name. I wasn't sure about it at first so that's why I suddenly just recently made the decision. Since Tatsuo abandoned his family name I figured I might as well forget about it. Then I thought that it wouldn't be right for the flashbacks if everyone just called him Tatsuo if he were a Fukutaicho. xD**

**So I looked through a long list of good last names and for some reason that one stook out to me the most.**

**(ByaRukifan looks somewhere at the beginning of the chapter) **

**Hmm, do I sense foreshadowing for the sequel! Mayyyybeeee~**

**Next time, THE FINAL CHAPTER!**

**I'll have it up this weekend!**

**Read and Review!**

**Just Remember, NO FLAMING!**


	17. Chapter 17

_~Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon~_

_**By**_ - _ByaRukifan_

_**Timeline:**__** After Aizen's defeat**_

_**Pairing(s):**_ Byakuya/Rukia

~Chapter Seventeen~

Too bright.

Everything was too bright to Byakuya as he slowly opened his eyes. He shut them as soon as he opened them before waiting a few moments to try again. Once his eyes were adjusted, he looked around and soon recognized the room he was in belonged to the Fourth Division.

It all came back to him then. The battle against Tatsuo, Rukia suddenly showing up when he thought he was done for. _'Rukia...' _Now he couldn't help but wonder where she was, but when he looked to his left his eyes widened momentarily before softening. Rukia asleep at his side, sitting in a chair while her head and arms rested on the side of the bed Byakuya was currently sitting in. He gave a smile before intertwined his hand with hers.

"How did we get here...?" Byakuya asked to no one in particular as the thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"Oh, you're awake." Unohana said as she walked through the door, followed by Ukitake.

She could see the look of confusion Byakuya held across his face. He was calm though, he was always good at keeping his emotions in check. She let her eyes drift to Rukia before noticing her and Byakuya's intertwined hands.

"How did we get here?" Byakuya asked calmly, "What happened?"

"After Tatsuo had been defeated Rukia carried you as far as she could until she fell over from exhaustion." Unohana explained, "It was only a few minutes later that the search squad that had been sent to locate the two of you had found you."

"A search squad?"

"Yes, the two of you had been gone for quite some time. We all were beginning to think something happened and finally a search squad was sent out." She answered before continuing her explanation, "Once you and Kuchiki-san were brought here late last night, Kuchiki-san had regained consciousness and had told us what had happened before coming to your room in here and fell asleep."

Ukitake nodded in confirmation before speaking, "I never knew Tasuo would show his face again, I honestly thought he had died long ago. Even Yamamoto Sou-Taicho couldn't believe it at first. We're all very glad the two of you are alright."

Byakuya's eyes had widened at their words before looking down at Rukia. He was unable to help his hand from tightening his hold on hers.

"If you don't mind me asking, is there something different between you and Kuchiki-san, Kuchiki-taicho?" Unohana asked. "The only reason I'm asking is because when Kuchiki-san was explaining everything to us she was asking about your condition, but was calling you by your first name instead of what she usually calls you."

Byakuya hesitated, "...Yes, there is. Many things happened during the mission and our new relationship was one of them."

Unohana gave a nod before she and Ukitake smiled. "Well then I'm happy for you and Kuchiki-san. I wish the both of you happiness together."

Ukitake nodded, "I'm glad Rukia's found someone and I'm glad it was you. The two of you needed to become closer, even if this is a little closer than most were thinking." Ukitake gave a small chuckle.

Byakuya was slightly surprised by the sudden congratulations and acceptance of Rukia and his new relationship, but he wasn't going to question it.

"Can we be left alone for awhile?" Byakuya asked after taking another glance at Rukia.

Unohana nodded, "Certainly."

Ukitake gave another friendly smile before he and Unohana exited the room, leaving Byakuya and Rukia in private.

Byakuya looked down at Rukia again once they were alone. _'She saved my life...'_ Byakuya thought after he brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. He then smiled softly, "Thank you, Rukia."

Rukia smiled, making Byakuya's eyes widen slightly. "You don't have to thank me." She told him as she opened her eyes to look at him.

She moved her hand to grasp his own, "How are feeling?"

Byakuya smiled back at her, "I feel a lot better now, but you should go rest."

"I feel fine." Rukia said after shaking her head slightly. "You were the one that got hurt."

"You had followed me and watched the fight between Tatsuo and me from the beginning didn't you?"

Rukia nodded, "I wanted to cut in earlier but I knew you wouldn't want me to...but...I knew I just couldn't stand by and watch him..."

Byakuya knew what she was trying to say but couldn't. He clutched her hand tighter before leaning over to softly kiss her forehead.

"You didn't get hurt though, did you?"

"No, I didn't" Rukia replied, looking up at him after wiping away the tears that had tried to form.

Byakuya let a small sigh of relieve escape him. He was so glad she hadn't been hurt.

"I'm so happy you're alright." Rukia said as tears of relief began to form.

"Come closer."

Rukia looked at him in confusion, but did what he had asked her to do anyway. She moved to sit on the side of the bed so that she was closer to him. At that moment, Byakuya pulled her to him before kissing her fully on the lips. Rukia smiled against his lips before kissing him back, moving her hands to rest on his chest.

"I love you, Rukia..." Byakuya whispered once they had separated, "...More than anything."

Rukia smiled softly, "I love you too, more than anything."

With that, Byakuya smiled and pulled her in for another kiss.

_End.

* * *

_

**:: IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ ::**

**Well, there you go. The end of Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon. The sequel will be out in a few months most likely...right after I get some ByaRuki (maybe some SenYuki if I get ideas) oneshots out. I'm still taking ideas for oneshots though. I only have a few at the moment so keep sending them in. **

**Alright, since I didn't explain the meanings of Tatsuo's powers in the last chapter I guess I'll do so here.**

**Zanpakutou's Abilities:**

**Kazerokku _(Wind Lock)_ – Tatsuo raises his hands and wind begins to slowly envelope the target and then begins tightening in coil-like wraps around the target.**

**Bunkaitaiki _(Atmospherical Disintegration)_ – Tatsuo's whole being slowly disintegrates/vaporizes and blends into the air becoming ethereal. **

**Kazekagizume _(Wind Claws)_ – Strong winds condense themselves around Tatsuo's hands and fingers to form an invisible, almost claw-like form. Whenever he tries to slash out at the target with his "claws" they can get cut as if being cut with a sword.**

**Ryuukokyuu _(Dragon Breath)_ – Tatsuo summons extremely fast and strong winds that are able to cute and slash the target as it blows**

**There you go. Tatsuo's Zanpakutou abilities.**

**I really hope you all enjoyed this story an will stick around for the others that come out. I'm actually pretty proud of this story and what I have of it's sequel. Heh, hopefully the sequel will be just as good. **

**Read and Review!**

**Just remember, NO FLAMING!**


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